Seven Days
by Dragon Empress
Summary: *My first Golden sun fic!* Heh, on their return to Vale, Isaac realises he's only got one week to convince Mia to stay permanently. Of course, Garet gets roped into helping out too. Then there's Ivan bathroom obsession, Jenna's Garet obsession, and Felix'
1. Prologue: Before the week that was

CHIBI CHAO: Welcome, one and all, to Dragon Empress' first ever Golden Sun fic! (Trumpets blare and wild, raucous cheers can be heard as the authoress makes herself known.)  
  
ME: (Bowing.) Thank you, thank you. Please, no applause, just throw money.  
  
CHIBI CHAO: Right. Well, can we get on with the story now that you've had your chance to show off?  
  
ME: Shut it! (Smacks muse over the head with her staff.) Now, for the disclaimer!  
  
AH YES, YOUNG ONE, YOU HAVE MADE A MOST WISE DECISION IN COMING TO ME FOR THE ANSWER TO THE LONG-PONDERED QUESTION, DOES DRAGON EMPRESS OWN GOLDEN SUN? WELL, MY YOUNG GRASSHOPPER, I AM AFRAID YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR, FOR OWN GOLDEN SUN SHE DOES NOT.  
  
ME: Right, enough insanity, let's get on with the story! But before I do, I should tell you that this fic takes place after both Golden Sun games and may involve some light Felix-bashing. (Just for good measure.) MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So, without further adieu, let the fic begin!  
  
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Two men went to mow, went to mow a meadow...  
  
Isaac whistled this cheery little tune as he and his friends were finally, after almost three long years, on the road home to Vale. Of course, it wasn't home to all of his friends yet, but he had privately hoped that Ivan, Sheba and (Insert long, melodramatic sigh here.) Mia were planning on staying in Vale, at least for a while. Preferably forever.  
  
Glancing to his left, he saw his oldest friends, Garet and Jenna sharing some private joke a little way away from the others. Isaac couldn't help but smile. It was now common knowledge amongst the adepts that those two were absolutely crazy for each other and totally accepted by all.  
  
Well, almost all...  
  
A quick glance to his left confirmed his suspicions that Felix was once again glaring at the happy couple with narrowed eyes. He'd never been a fan of Garet in the first place, but now that he and Jenna were an item, Felix's dislike for the clumsy Mars adept had increased tenfold. Ah, poor Garet, he was never very lucky anyway. And now, any ideas he had about getting 'lucky' would have just flown out of the window the moment he realised that his girlfriend's over-protective big brother would be returning to Vale with them. But still, Isaac didn't really think that Garet had taken the hint well when Felix had cornered him outside a bar in Vault a couple of days earlier and threatened him with a very painful death if he even dared to try anything 'funny' with Jenna, because he continued to flirt with her mercilessly, despite Felix's somewhat disconcerting warnings and violent hand gestures.  
  
Now, on reflection, perhaps it was Jenna he should be feeling sorry for...  
  
"Damn Isaac, just how far from the rest of civilisation is Vale?" Ivan's voice cut through his thoughts like a knife. Frowning, he turned to the young wind adept.  
  
"Ivan, you've asked me that question every ten minutes since we left Vault."  
  
"I know, but you still haven't given me an answer." Isaac rolled his eyes.  
  
"It's not far. Just another hour's walk or so, if we're going in the right direction. There are a lot more trees here than I remember." Loud groans came up from the rest of the party members.  
  
"I knew we shouldn't have taken that short cut!" Sheba muttered, glaring at Garet, who threw his hands up defensively.  
  
"Hey, it's hardly my fault!" He exclaimed.  
  
"Then whose fault is it?"  
  
"Felix's." The death glare intensified, and Isaac had a nasty suspicion that Garet was going to burst into flames any second now.  
  
"My fault?! How is it my fault?" Felix demanded, making to grab Garet round the collar, but having his hand slapped away by Jenna. She nodded at her brother.  
  
"You did agree with him that it was a short cut." She said. "And everyone knows that Garet has next to no sense of direction." Garet went red.  
  
"That's not true!"  
  
"Yes it is!"  
  
"It isn't!"  
  
"It is!"  
  
"Just shut up the both of you! We've got to get to Vale before nightfall, and preferably before Christmas too." Ivan said, in his usual, irritatingly cheerful voice. Even when he was yelling at or insulting someone, he could never seem to get the chipper-ness out of his tone. Needless to say, it was quite annoying at times.  
  
Garet shook his head and crossed his arms over his wide chest. "Fine, maybe my sense of direction isn't perfect. But I'd like to see you get us out of this forest, smart guy."  
  
"Oh please, I bet you I can get us out of here in under an hour." Ivan retorted, mimicking the taller adept's stance, arms folded over his chest. Garet reached into his pocket and pulled out a fistful (And remember, he has pretty large fists.) of coins.  
  
"This fifty coins says you can't!" He said. Ivan smirked.  
  
"What, afraid to make a real man's bet? Or are you just afraid to lose money in front of your girlfriend?"  
  
"Fine!" Garet turned both his pockets inside out and counted the money that fell onto the ground. "One hundred and twenty-six coins says that you can't get us out of the forest in under an hour. Deal?"  
  
"Deal!" They shook hands, and then, with the annoying smirk still on his face, Ivan took the lead.  
  
Six hours later:  
  
"Well, this doesn't look an awful lot like Vale to me. What do you think, Ivan?"  
  
"Oh, shut up!"  
  
Another six hours later:  
  
"Y'know, I'm not even sure we're still in Angara anymore."  
  
"Hmph, knowing Ivan's sense of direction we've probably ended up in the middle of Lemuria!"  
  
Yet another six hours later:  
  
Isaac wiped the sweat off his brow with his left hand, watching as a gleeful Garet turned Ivan upside down and shook him until money fell out. They had been walking for ages. Their journey from Vault had begun very early the morning, half-past five to be precise, and now it was beginning to get dark. Probably, if they'd followed Garet's 'short-cut', they would have been back home in Vale roughly twelve hours ago. Stupid Ivan.  
  
"I really don't think we should let Ivan lead anymore." Felix said, looking at the others. They all nodded and murmured in agreement. "I'll lead instead." This comment was not so well received.  
  
"I don't think any of the guys should be allowed to lead." Mia said suddenly, and Isaac looked at her, startled as he realised that it was the first thing she'd said all day. "None of them seem to be very good at it." The ladies nodded enthusiastically.  
  
"We'll lead instead." Sheba said.  
  
"Yeah, come on Jenna." Mia said, turning to the female fire adept who had just settled back into her cling-onto-Garet's-arm-and-cut-off-all-the- circulation position. She looked up at Garet.  
  
"Well, actually, I think I'll hang back with the guys." Mia tutted.  
  
"Fine!" She said, grabbing Isaac suddenly. "You can show me the way to Vale, Isaac." He looked at her, utterly bemused.  
  
"What did I do?" He asked.  
  
"Nothing, silly. It's just that we need someone who actually has a clue as to where Vale is to accompany us."  
  
"Yeah." Sheba agreed, popping up on his other side suddenly. "And besides, if we're way ahead of the others, we'll need a big, strong man you to keep us safe!" Isaac blushed a little.  
  
"Well, if you put it like that..."  
  
"Great! Come on, Isaac!"  
  
And as they frogmarched him off into the woods, Garet said to Ivan, who he still held upside down, but now with only one hand because Jenna was holding onto the other for dear life, "Tch, what a wuss. Imagine letting a girl boss you around like that!" There was a tug on his right arm, and he looked down.  
  
"Garet, sweetie. Can we hurry up? I would actually like to get to Vale today y'know?"  
  
"Yes, dear." And he dropped Ivan onto the forest floor and let Jenna drag him off after Isaac and the other girls. Felix trudged behind them, looking sour as usual. Ivan snickered at Garet's retreating back.  
  
"He's one to talk!"  
  
"Ivan!" Sheba's voice echoed loud through the woods. "Hurry up, or we'll leave you behind!" He gulped, and ran after them.  
  
"I'm just coming!"  
  
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ME: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Fun, fun, fun! I liked my little prologue. So you'd all better review! 


	2. Monday: Welcome back to Vale!

ME: Well, I think the prologue was quite well received. And I will apologise now for my poor sentence construction.  
  
CHIBI CHAO: Get on with it!  
  
ME: Don't shout at me! I can hurt you badly if I want to!  
  
CHIBI CHAO: (Cowering.) I'm sorry.  
  
ME: You'd better be.  
  
RIGHT, DISCLAIMERTIME. NO, I DON'T OWN GOLDEN SUN, WHAT ON EARTH MADE YOU THINK THAT?  
  
ME: Alright then, chapter two!  
  
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When Isaac woke the next morning, the first thing he noticed was that he still wasn't in his own bed in Vale. Apparently, he hadn't been a very good guide for Mia and Sheba last night, and their taking the lead had resulted only in roundabout routes and major headaches. (Sheba was dangerous when she was angry.) Gingerly, he rubbed the bump on his head.  
  
"Ouch." He muttered, careful not to wake the others. Not like it would anyway. If his fellow adepts could sleep through Garet's snoring and Felix's 'night-terrors', they could sleep through almost anything.  
  
And so, with a stretch and a yawn, he grabbed his bag and made his way to the patch of bushes behind where he'd been sleeping, intending on eating his breakfast before everyone else woke up and devoured the good stuff. He pushed apart the bushes, and then promptly dropped the bag in surprise.  
  
For there was Vale, in all it's morning glory.  
  
"Guys, guys! I've found it!" He yelled excitedly, and not to mention loudly. Ivan, being the lightest sleeper of the crew, sat up sleepily and rubbed his eyes.  
  
"Found what, Isaac?" He murmured.  
  
"Vale!" Ivan's sleepiness vanished almost instantly, and he stared up at his friend in disbelief.  
  
"What? You mean, you've actually found it?" He said excitedly, getting up for a look. Isaac rolled his eyes.  
  
"Calm down there, Ivan. It's not like we've just discovered Lemuria for the first time or something."  
  
"No, you're right. Lemuria was easier to find."  
  
Isaac chose to ignore this last comment, and concentrated his energy instead on waking up the others. And as soon as they were all awake, some muttering things like, "Blonde idiots with nothing better to do than wake me up." (Garet.) Or "Stupid morons who date my sister." (Felix.) And even the occasional, "I will become the queen of the universe." (Sheba.)  
  
Isaac grinned at them all. "Guess what's behind that bush Ivan's standing at." He said. The others shrugged.  
  
"Food!"  
  
"Um, a...dinosaur?"  
  
"Is this a trick question?"  
  
Isaac slapped his forehead. "No, this is not a trick question, Garet. It's Vale!" It took a while for these words to settle in. Then:  
  
"No way!"  
  
"Really? Well done, Isaac!"  
  
"Is this a trick question?"  
  
Hmm, Garet clearly hadn't fully woken up yet. And Ivan, being the 'good friend' he was, decided that the best way to wake Garet was to pour some ice cold water over his head. So, he walked over to Mia and whispered something in her ear. She grinned wickedly, which was really scary, seeing as she'd never had an evil side before. Then...  
  
*SPLASH!*  
  
Garet's yelp of pain and surprise was loud enough to wake the dead, and then he turned on Mia with a look of mixed anger and surprise.  
  
"What the Hell did you do that for?!" He yelled, Mia cringed and immediately pointed to Ivan.  
  
"It was his idea!"  
  
Ivan went pale as Garet's hands ignited in flames.  
  
"You! I should've known! Gaah, Ivan, I'm going to kill you!" He made to charge after Ivan, but Jenna grabbed his arm.  
  
"Garet! I want to go down into Vale now! You can kill Ivan later, I promise." She said, once again holding his arm in the now patented 'Jenna death-grip'. Garet growled menacingly at Ivan, but complied with Jenna's wishes.  
  
Well, at least it woke him up.  
  
And so, all of them together, united as a group (For a change.), walked down the path and into the town of Vale at last.  
  
A couple of hours later:  
  
Isaac wandered around the town plaza, trying vainly to avoid his mother. Their return to Vale had been well received, no one could deny that. But now it seemed like Dora wasn't going to let her son out of her sight ever again. And to make matters worse, when he asked her if Mia could stay with them for a while, his mother had went all sentimental and starting planning weddings and baby showers and other such embarrassing things. Mia had found it all incredibly amusing, and tried her hardest to convince his mum that there was nothing between them. Isaac was too mortified for words by that point.  
  
And speaking of mortification...  
  
"Oh my God! Dad!" Garet's horrified voice echoed for miles around and Isaac couldn't help by smirk. Even if his welcome home had been embarrassing, it was nothing compared to what Garet had been put through by his family.  
  
Firstly, his mother had burst into tears, saying in a loud voice how her 'baby' was all grown up. Then his sister had approached him and whacked him over the head, demanding angrily to know why the Hell it had taken him so long. His younger brother wasn't very pleased either, and complained that because Garet was back he would only get half as much attention.  
  
And now, we get to his father.  
  
With a hairline that receded and a waistband that expanded, Garet's dad gave off the impression of a once very powerful man gone slightly off as he reached middle age. And that was exactly what he was. Just another one of those fifty-something guys going through a mid-life crisis. So, in a vain attempt to deny the facts, he decided that the best way to look better yourself is to make someone else look bad. And who better to pick on than your teenage son?  
  
So, Garet's dad found it incredibly amusing to embarrass him at every opportunity, and the opportunities had increased when he found out that Garet and Jenna were an item.  
  
Flashback-About an hour earlier:  
  
"So Garet." He said, while accompanying the adepts up to Isaac's house, where Ivan, Mia and Sheba were staying. "You and Jenna done it yet?"  
  
Isaac just couldn't help it. He had laughed like there was no tomorrow while watching his best friend go bright red and almost faint in shock.  
  
"D-Dad!" Garet had spluttered, panicking as he realised that Felix was standing only a few feet away, listening closely. "That's none of your business!"  
  
"So that's a no then?"  
  
"I didn't say that!" Garet was beyond red by then, and now turning a lovely shade of purple. His father had laughed and slapped one of those massive arms around his shoulders.  
  
"See, I always knew you had it in you, my boy! Now, the best way to please a woman is to..."  
  
"Dad!"  
  
End flashback.  
  
Isaac grinned at the memory. Oh, how Garet was going to suffer!  
  
"Hey, Isaac!"  
  
Isaac turned around to see Ivan hurrying towards him.  
  
"Hey, Ivan. What's going on now?"  
  
"Your mum's looking for you." Ivan said, once he'd caught up. "She wants to see you now."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Dunno, she didn't say."  
  
Isaac shook his head. "It's probably another one of her daft ideas about me and Mia getting married." He said. Ivan grinned.  
  
"And I'm sure you're hating every moment."  
  
"Just what is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Yeah, like you don't know!"  
  
"What?! Ivan!" Isaac yelled, as Ivan turned on his heel and walked off in the opposite direction. "Tell me!"  
  
"You've got 'till Sunday, Isaac." Ivan said, as he sauntered off. "You've got until Sunday to tell Mia how you really feel."  
  
"If not, what happens on Sunday?" Isaac's voice sounded small.  
  
"She goes to back to Imil."  
  
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ME: Ah, poor Isaac. What ever will he do now? Review, or you'll never find out! 


	3. Tuesday: Under the table

ME: 'Sup?  
  
CHIBI CHAO: Excuse me?  
  
ME: I said 'sup? Don't you speak English?  
  
CHIBI CHAO: Well, actually...  
  
ME: Alright, enough! I need a disclaimer!  
  
DO I OWN GOLDEN SUN? AH, IF ONLY...  
  
ME: Right, I'm sick of having to listen to my muse talk. Get on with the chapter!  
  
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When Isaac woke up on Tuesday the hard, cold, uncomfortable feeling beneath him gave him a strange feeling of Déjà vu. No, hold on, that's not what I meant...  
  
'Ah, please tell me it wasn't all a dream.' He thought desperately.  
  
"Isaac, get up! Your breakfast's ready!" His mother's loud holler from downstairs made his eyes snap open instantly. It wasn't a dream! But he was on the floor.  
  
Odd.  
  
Standing up, he stretched and cracked his neck to one side, wincing. But the question still remained; why the Hell had he slept on the floor? Deciding that this puzzle needed more pondering still, he dressed quickly and made his way downstairs.  
  
When he entered the kitchen, Sheba was already there, wolfing down her porridge as dignified as she could muster. She muttered a porridge- mutilated greeting to Isaac as he sat down next to her at the table.  
  
"Where is everyone?" He asked her. She shrugged.  
  
"Last I saw, Mia was getting dressed and Ivan was in the bathroom. Oh, and your mum's gone down to the plaza to do some shopping, apparently."  
  
Hmm, Mia getting dressed...No, Isaac! Bad boy! He mentally kicked himself. Sheba didn't seem to notice though, as she was far too engrossed in her meal.  
  
"Damn, your mother's porridge is good, Isaac!" She said, while reaching over for the large pot that sat in the middle of the table and helping herself to some more.  
  
Well, they obviously didn't make food like that in Lalivero.  
  
"Morning, guys!" Mia's cheerful voice rang through the small kitchen as she joined the table, sitting a little too close to Isaac for him to escape with his sanity intact.  
  
"M-Morning Mia!" He said, hoping she didn't notice the stutter. She didn't, luckily for him.  
  
"Mrrming, Mimph!"  
  
Mia turned to Isaac. "What did she say?"  
  
"Morning, Mia. It's just that her mouth is full of porridge." He explained, while frantically trying to shut up the little voice in his head that kept telling him that if he just shifted his hand a little to the right, he'd be touching her leg...  
  
Gaah, breathe man, breathe!  
  
"So, where's Ivan?"  
  
Isaac looked at Mia again, remembering Sheba's earlier answer.  
  
"Bathroom, I think."  
  
"Still?" Mia exclaimed, a little surprised. "He's been in there since six this morning!"  
  
Isaac raised his eyebrows. "Really? What's he doing in there?"  
  
"I'm not sure I want to know."  
  
*BANG!*  
  
The front door slammed, and minutes later, Garet walked into the kitchen, complete with a hooded cloak covering his face. He removed the clock to reveal a set of extremely blood-shot eyes. Isaac's eyebrows raised for the second time that morning.  
  
"What happened to you?" He asked, eyeing his friend warily. Garet banged his head off the table.  
  
"I got caught 'sleeping over' at Jenna's."  
  
Isaac grinned wickedly, wishing that Ivan were here to share this truly brilliant opportunity for making fun of Garet. "Who caught you?"  
  
"Felix." The Mars adept muttered. Isaac burst out laughing. So did Sheba and Mia.  
  
"Wahahahaha, F-Felix caught you?" Mia asked Garet, through tears of mirth. He scowled.  
  
"Hey, we weren't doing anything at the time!" He protested. This only made his friends laugh harder.  
  
"Hahaha, I can't-can't believe Felix finally caught you!" Isaac said. Then he was hit by such a huge wave of laughter he fell off his chair and continued his laughing fit down on the floor. "Hahahahahahaha!" "Hey, it isn't funny!" A new voice joined the conversation, and Isaac looked up (Eyes blurred with his tears of laughter.) to see Jenna staring down at him looking more than a little bit pissed. He noted that though her eyes weren't bloodshot, there were very large bags underneath them and she looked exhausted.  
  
"Wow Jenna, I'm surprised Felix let you out of the house." Garet said, looking up at his girlfriend. She shrugged.  
  
"Well, he's got some uh, 'indiscretions' I know about that he'd rather keep a secret too." She said, smirking. "So I cut him a deal."  
  
"Heh, I never knew you were so devious."  
  
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me yet, Garet..."  
  
"Whoa!" Isaac got back into his chair. "I'm don't think we want to hear this."  
  
"Yeah, I'm eating!"  
  
"Really, Sheba?" Jenna said dryly, looking at the way the young Jupiter adept was shovelling down the now lukewarm porridge. "I never noticed."  
  
"Shut it. This stuff is delicious!" Sheba continued to eat at top speed. "You don't know what you're missing."  
  
"Sure I do. I've had to suffer Isaac's mother's porridge most of my life. It's great at first, but after having it served to you every time you sleep over at Isaac's, you do get pretty sick of it."  
  
"Never!"  
  
"Oh, you wait and see. Why do you think Isaac hasn't touched any?"  
  
"What's all this about my porridge?"  
  
Everyone in the kitchen turned to see Isaac's mum standing at the back door. Jenna went a bit pale.  
  
"Uhh, nothing. Just telling Sheba how good it is!"  
  
"No she wasn't! She told me she was si..." Sheba never got to finish her sentence though, for Jenna had picked up her spoon and stuffed some more porridge in her mouth.  
  
"Eat it before it gets cold, Sheba."  
  
"Mmmph!"  
  
Isaac's mother shook her head. "I'll never understand you kids." She said. Then she turned to Garet. "Oh, Garet, dear. Felix is looking for you."  
  
All the colour drained from Garet's face, and he took a diving leap under the table.  
  
"If he comes in here, tell him I've emigrated to South Gondowan." He said. Isaac's mother took this opportunity to shake her head disapprovingly again, and wander away, saying something about, "The crazy younger generation." Everyone else just stared after her. Well, except for Garet, because the tablecloth obscured his view. Though I doubt he cared.  
  
"Right, let's go." Mia said suddenly, standing up.  
  
Isaac turned to look at her. "Go where?"  
  
"No, not you. Me, Jenna and Sheba."  
  
"Why can't we come?" Garet asked, from under the table. Sheba kicked him.  
  
"Because it's girls only." She said, also standing up. "Right, ready?"  
  
Jenna looked doubtful. "Y'know, I think I want to stay here with Garet."  
  
"No chance, Jenna!" Mia said firmly. "We're not letting you get away with this again."  
  
"But..."  
  
"No way. You're coming with us, whether you like it or not!"  
  
And then Sheba and Mia dragged Jenna out the back door, shouting a cheery, "Bye!" As they went.  
  
Isaac sighed. Now it was just him and a guy under a table. "You can come out now, Garet." He said. "Felix wont come here."  
  
"You think?"  
  
"Yes. Now, get out from under there!"  
  
Garet came out, and smacked his head off the edge of the table. "Ow!"  
  
"Idiot. I don't know what Jenna sees in you."  
  
"Shut your mouth, at least I have a girlfriend. And the clock is ticking for you on that subject."  
  
Isaac stared at him sourly. "So Ivan told you, did he?" Stupid Ivan.  
  
"Of course. He told Sheba and Jenna too, I think." Garet sat on the chair next to Isaac, rubbing his head. "Does your mum have any ice?"  
  
Isaac wasn't listening by then. "He told Sheba and Jenna?!" He said, in a strangely high voice. "Everyone in Vale will know by Friday!"  
  
"Oh, come on, give the girls some credit. I'd say Thursday."  
  
"Oh no." Isaac slid off of his chair and went under the table. "I'm doomed."  
  
"Yeah, but what can you do?" Garet asked cheerfully.  
  
"You're not helping! No, wait..." Isaac came back up. "You can help me!"  
  
Garet eyed him suspiciously. He wasn't that brightest guy in the world, but he knew that Isaac was planning something. And that usually wasn't good. "How do you mean?" He said slowly.  
  
"You can keep Jenna quiet. Y'know, make sure she doesn't tell anyone."  
  
"What about Sheba?"  
  
"Ivan."  
  
"Ah." The Mars adept rubbed his chin. "Quite a plan, but with one big flaw."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"I won't do it."  
  
"What?! Why not?"  
  
"I have my reasons."  
  
"Aw, come on, please?"  
  
"Uhh...no."  
  
"Please? Pretty please?"  
  
"Nope. No sale."  
  
Isaac grabbed Garet's shirt. "Help me!"  
  
"Hey, watch the material!" Garet pried his friend's fingers off his shirt. After all, it was new and he didn't any creases. "Alright, alright, if it means that much to you, I'll help."  
  
Isaac fought the urge to hug him.  
  
"On one condition."  
  
The urge died.  
  
"What condition?"  
  
"You help me find a good way to ask Jenna to marry me."  
  
"Deal." They shook hands. Then, "What?!"  
  
"You heard." Garet glared at him. "Don't make me repeat myself. Someone could be listening." Someone like Ivan. Or even worse, Felix.  
  
"But-But...you've got to be kidding me!" Isaac laughed. "You've only been together a month!"  
  
"So, I've had feelings for her for much longer than that. And that's beside the point now. We have a deal, Isaac."  
  
"Fine, Dammit. I'll help you if you help me."  
  
"Great." Garet reached over and grabbed the porridge pot. It was empty. "Aw."  
  
"Yeah, I'm afraid Sheba's beaten you to it, my friend."  
  
"Tch, that girl eats almost as much as I do."  
  
"Almost? I think she's got a long way to go before she can match you, Garet."  
  
"True."  
  
Later on:  
  
Ivan was dead. Isaac was going to find him, and then kill him.  
  
Stupid Ivan. Just where was here?!  
  
"Y'know, if you keep on going like that, you'll burn a hole in the floor."  
  
"Shut up, Garet. Or you'll be the one in a burning hole in the floor."  
  
"Ooh, nasty." Garet grinned at his best friend. "Don't get so worked up, Isaac. It's not like he's vanished off the face of the Earth of something. He's probably just gone out for a walk."  
  
"For six hours?!"  
  
"Yeah. Why not?"  
  
"Because I need to talk to him, as in, now. Before Sheba starts shooting her mouth off." Isaac ran his hand through his hair impatiently. "This is bad."  
  
"You're just looking on the downside of things. Sheba might not tell anyone. You're being a pes...uh, a pessim, erm, a..."  
  
"A pessimist?"  
  
"That's the one! Yeah, you're being a pessamist."  
  
Isaac rolled his eyes. "Pessimist."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
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ME: Hmm, this was a long chapter. Well, compared to the other two it was. And it had a lot of dialogue. Sorry about that. (Grins.) But anyway, next chapter! Lots of stuff happening, I think. Will Felix ever catch up with Garet? Will Garet ever learn to say 'pessimist' properly? And will Ivan ever leave that damn bathroom? Such things will be revealed in the next chapters of, (Dun dun duuuuuuuun!) Seven Days!  
  
But only if you review. 


	4. Wednesday: Garet the genius?

ME: Hey, all.  
  
CHIBI CHAO: Yeah, hey.  
  
ME: Tch, so enthusiastic. (Shakes head.) But anyway, I'm glad that those who've read this fic so far have decided that they like it. Thanks, guys! Now, disclaimer!  
  
NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I DON'T OWN GOLDEN SUN! WHY MUST YOU CONTINUE TO TORTURE ME?!  
  
ME: Ahem, right. Time for the chapter. It's Wednesday, and the guys' plans are getting put into motion. Heh, they hope...  
  
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"Ivan!" A loud thumping sound broke the silence of what was once a peaceful Wednesday afternoon. "Ivan, let me in!"  
  
It was Isaac, battering on the bathroom door. Ivan had once again gotten in there early, and not left for what was now over three hours. Now it hadn't really bothered Isaac before, no, he couldn't have cared less. Well, that was until he needed to go.  
  
"Ivan, please!" He thumped the door once more for good measure, and then slid down slowly to the floor, legs crossed in a very painful-looking position. "Ivan!"  
  
"Problem, Isaac?"  
  
He just about jumped out of his skin.  
  
"Mia! Dammit, don't do that!" He yelled, trying to look as cool as possible with his hand on his crotch. She giggled.  
  
"Sorry, I couldn't resist."  
  
"Well, I'm glad you find my pain amusing." He muttered. She giggled again. It was a nice sound.  
  
"Oh, I do." She looked at the door. "Is Ivan still in there?"  
  
"No, I do this for a hobby." Isaac said sarcastically. Well, what did she think he was doing? Buying a house?  
  
"Well you're not buying a house, that's for sure."  
  
Hey, how did she do that?  
  
The front door opened and closed downstairs. Then there was the sound of two pairs of feet, one much heavier than the other, making their way up the stairs.  
  
"Hey, Isaac!" It was Garet and Jenna. And yes, Jenna was stuck to Garet like a rabbit to an electric fence.  
  
Garet stared at his fallen friend. "Uhh, Isaac?"  
  
"Y-Yes?"  
  
"What in the name of Mars are you doing?"  
  
Oh, that was it. The stupidity level in the hallway was becoming too high for him to breathe. Or maybe it was the fact that he felt like he was going to explode. "What does it look like I'm doing?!"  
  
Garet scratched his head with his free arm. "Buying a house?"  
  
What the Hell?  
  
"Don't be stupid, he's waiting to use the bathroom." Aww, it was sweet of Mia to jump in and defend him like that. Maybe there was hope. "Want to take bets on how long it'll take him to wet himself?" Then again, maybe not.  
  
"Nah, I've not got any money on me."  
  
Oh, that was comforting.  
  
"Me neither. Maybe some other time though."  
  
What great friends, eh?  
  
*CLICK!*  
  
The bathroom door slid open, and Isaac was instantly on his feet. He whizzed past Ivan and slammed the door shut behind him. A loud sigh could be heard from the bathroom as Ivan strolled down the corridor, whistling a happy little tune. Mia raised an eyebrow. That boy definitely had some screws loose somewhere.  
  
And speaking of screws...  
  
"All done!" Isaac announced cheerfully, dusting his hands off on his trousers.  
  
"Great!" Garet pulled himself free of Jenna's vice-like hold (A.K.A: The Jenna death-grip.) and motioned for Isaac to follow him down the stairs. "Let's go."  
  
Jenna grabbed his arm again and pulled him back. "Where are you going?"  
  
"Uhh, to my house. With Isaac."  
  
"Can't we come?" She looked up at him with wide, sad eyes. Damn, he couldn't fight it. Garet was going to crack, and then they would both be screwed. Isaac had to do something, fast.  
  
"No, sorry, Jenna." He said, cutting in smoothly. "Guy time."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Guy time. Y'know, when we men all hang out together for a while and do masculine stuff. No girls allowed."  
  
Jenna's eyes started to water. "Are you avoiding me, Garet?" She said, holding his arm all the tighter. It was going a funny colour.  
  
"What? No! Jenna, I'm not avoiding you, I swear!" Ooh, tough one. How was Garet gonna get out of this? "It's just that, that..."  
  
"You are avoiding me, aren't you?!" She burst into loud noisy tears and buried her face in his shirt. He shot a terrified look at Isaac that clearly said, "Help me!" But unfortunately, Isaac sent him one right back that said, "What the Hell do you want me to do?!"  
  
Oh, Isaac was going down. Garet was going to make sure of it.  
  
"Jenna. Jenna, sweetie, listen. It's not that I'm avoiding you or anything, it's just that, well, we've been spending a lot of time together recently and, erm, uh..." Think, Garet, think! It's not that hard, Isaac does it all the time. Then it hit him. "It's just that Isaac feels a little left out." Ha hah, bingo! He'd done it! Jenna stopped crying almost immediately, and Isaac stared at him, horrified. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah, Isaac feels left out. That's it!" Oh yeah, genius, absolute genius. Garet mentally patted himself on the back. Playing with emotions never fails. "Because he's used to me and him hanging out all the time and stuff, but now we don't. You see?"  
  
Jenna sniffled a little and looked over at Isaac. "Really?" She asked.  
  
He was about to say no, but the look in Garet's eyes told him that it probably wasn't in his best interests. And besides, it would get rid of Mia and Jenna for the afternoon. So, swallowing his pride, he nodded. Jenna rushed over and gave him a hug.  
  
"I'm sorry, Isaac. I didn't know." She said, crushing him ever so slightly. Hmm, Garet wasn't lying when he said she had a strong grip.  
  
"It's alright." He wheezed. "But, can you let me go now? You're cutting off the oxygen supply to my brain."  
  
"Oh, sorry."  
  
Garet made an impatient sound. "In your own time, Isaac." Jenna whacked him over the head.  
  
"Don't be so insensitive!" She scolded.  
  
"Jenna! That hurt! I'll tell my mum on you!" He said, mock-threatening.  
  
"Then I'll tell your dad."  
  
"Don't do that! I don't even want to think about what he'd say to that." He shuddered slightly. So did everyone else.  
  
Then, Sheba came down the corridor.  
  
"What's up, guys? Where's Ivan?"  
  
"Don't know. Don't care. Need to be going now." Garet grabbed Isaac's collar and dragged him away. "Later, ladies!"  
  
Garet's house, three hours later:  
  
"Right, so..."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So..."  
  
"Argh! You're useless!" Isaac whacked the table. "We've been here three hours and you've still not helped me at all!"  
  
"Well, you've not exactly been very useful either. And I think my problem's a bit more serious than yours Isaac." Garet crumpled up the bit of paper he'd been writing on and threw it in the bin. "But you're right. We need good ideas."  
  
"You don't say." Isaac rolled his eyes. "I honestly didn't notice."  
  
"Shut up. You're way too sarcastic now, Isaac. What happened to the real you?" Garet shot back, in a false, simpering voice. "Maybe you've just lost your way."  
  
"You'll be the one losing something in a minute if you don't help me, and I don't think it'll be your way."  
  
"Ooh, touchy. My, my, aren't we a cranky little soldier today."  
  
"You sound just like your mother."  
  
"That was the point."  
  
"Well, good for you."  
  
"It is good for me."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I know you know."  
  
"I know you know I kn- alright, enough! This is getting us nowhere!" Isaac hit the table again, and then winced in pain. Garet shook his head.  
  
"You shouldn't have done that." He said. Isaac shot him a venomous glare.  
  
"Look, are you going to help me or not?"  
  
"Yes, I'm going to help you." Garet returned Isaac's glare with an almost identical one of his own. "If I wasn't going to help you, then why would I spend a beautiful day indoors with you, when I could be outside somewhere with Jenna? And let's not forget, you promised you'd help me too." He wrote something down on a little bit of paper, and then frowned and ripped it to shreds. "Nah, I'm thinking your best option is to just go all out and tell her how you feel."  
  
"I was afraid you were going to say that."  
  
"Heh, I couldn't wait to say that!"  
  
Isaac really wasn't pleased, but there was no sense in dwelling on it. If Jenna couldn't make Garet take life seriously, no one could. So he opted for a change of subject. "This is all Ivan's fault, y'know."  
  
"I know." Garet rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe we should...persuade him to help us." He cracked his knuckles. Isaac grinned. Now this wasn't a bad idea at all.  
  
"Yeah, we still haven't gotten him to speak to Sheba yet."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Back to Isaac's house:  
  
Ivan sat at the kitchen table reading a large book titled, "Getting one over on friends and enemies" a new acquisition of his, and a very good read too. He chuckled a little to himself as he re-read the chapter, "How to use romance to your advantage".  
  
"Oh, Ivan."  
  
His blood went cold. He didn't like that voice. Hell, he'd been avoiding the owner of that voice all day. And all yesterday. But as it turns out, no one escapes the sword in the end, not even the really, really sneaky ones. And Ivan had been as sneaky as possible.  
  
Dammit, he just couldn't win these days!  
  
"Ahem, Ivan?"  
  
He looked up from the book. Garet and Isaac were standing over him, with the air of men meaning business.  
  
"Oh, h-hey guys." He stood up, pushing the chair in under the table and backing slowly away. Isaac and Garet looked at each other and nodded.  
  
"Get him."  
  
Later:  
  
Drip. Drip. Drip.  
  
What?  
  
Ivan's head was all fuzzy as he woke slowly, only to find that he was no longer at the table in Isaac's house with his book, he wasn't in Isaac's house at all. It looked more like a cave.  
  
"Hey look, he's coming round."  
  
"Excellent. Get the scissors."  
  
Ivan paled as he remembered what had happened. They wouldn't...no way.  
  
His eyes focused fully, and he saw Garet and Isaac again. But this time it was different. For starters, they were, as he'd suspected, in a cave. Then there was the fact that in Garet's right hand, there was a particularly large pair of scissors, the kind that barbers use. Oh, and there was also the little fact that he was tied up to a big rock.  
  
"Wha...what's going on?" He asked them, his eyes trained keenly on the scissors.  
  
"Well, Ivan." Isaac began, smiling at him. "As you may remember, you've been having a lot of fun at my expense recently." The blond Venus adept's eyes darted to the scissors and back briefly. "So we, that's Garet and myself, have decided to even the score."  
  
A nervous gulp. "How?"  
  
Garet grinned nastily. "Well, it seems that Isaac is in need of your immediate assistance to help repair some of the damage caused by your knowledge of the current situation."  
  
Ivan was suddenly struck by the fact that Garet was using fairly big words with no trouble at all. Inwardly he cursed Sheba for buying the big Mars adept that dictionary for his last birthday.  
  
"That's right, Garet." Isaac nodded, either not noticing or purposely ignoring the terrified look on Ivan's face. "So, that means that you go to Sheba and tell her that everything you said about me and Mia is false. You will also prevent her from spreading any rumours about it."  
  
"A-And if I refuse?"  
  
Garet smiled widely and opened the scissors. "I get to give you a haircut."  
  
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ME: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Poor Ivan! Well, not really. I think he deserved it. But anyway, don't think this is the end. I wouldn't be that good to Isaac now, would I? Oh, and where's Felix been these past few days? MWAHAHA! Review! 


	5. Thursday: Revenge is sour

ME: Hey, all.  
  
CHIBI CHAO: 'Sup?  
  
ME: Y'what?!  
  
CHIBI CHAO: Well, you said it earlier...(Sniffles.) can't we get along? Just for once?  
  
ME: Oh, shut up, crybaby.  
  
DISCLAIMER: ONCE UPON A TIME, DRAGON EMPRESS OWNED GOLDEN SUN. IT WAS GREAT, SHE HAD TO POWER TO DO WHATEVER SHE WANTED WITH THE CHARACTERS AND RULED THEIR IMAGINARY WORLD.  
  
YEAH, AND THEN SHE WOKE UP.  
  
ME: Alright, Thursday! Oh, and the majority of you have asked me to give Ivan the punishment he so rightfully deserves. Heh heh heh, snip, snip...  
  
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Ivan pulled the hat tighter around his ears, ignoring the sounds of muffled laughter in the next room. Sheba, Mia and Jenna were sat across the table from him, and kept glancing across, probably wondering why he was wearing Isaac's old Lure cap.  
  
The truth was it was the only hat he could find...  
  
The door to the left of the table opened, and Isaac and Garet walked in, still sniggering and trying their hardest not to. Their eyes widened when they realised that Isaac's mother had made lunch for all of them.  
  
Garet sat down next to Jenna. (And yes, she did take his arm and hold it like it was the most expensive arm in the world.) He coughed a little. "Ah, Ivan, could you pass me that last roll please?"  
  
Ivan glared at him and picked up the roll...  
  
"Thanks."  
  
...and dropped it on the floor. Garet raised his eyebrows.  
  
"Well, that was unnecessary." He said, looking at Isaac briefly. Isaac nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yes, totally uncalled for. On a side note, Ivan, why on Earth are you wearing my old Lure cap?"  
  
"You know why."  
  
"Do I really now? Well, I seem to have forgotten. Could you re-inform me as to why you're wearing my old Lure cap? It only attracts attention y'know."  
  
"Shut up, Isaac."  
  
"My, my, such language." Garet leaned forwards in his chair. "Why, anyone would think you were upset with us."  
  
"No, surely not, Garet. On what grounds would he have to be upset with us?"  
  
"Quite right, Isaac. I believe we've been perfectly angelic all week."  
  
Jenna snorted, but disguised it as a cough. She glared at Garet and Isaac. "What did you do?" She demanded suspiciously.  
  
"What, us?"  
  
"Nothing!"  
  
"What did you do?" She squeezed Garet's arm tighter.  
  
"Ow! N-nothing!" He winced in pain. "I swear, Jenna, we didn't do anything!"  
  
"Jenna! His arm's going purple!"  
  
"Wow, she does have a tight grip, doesn't she?" Mia said to Sheba. The younger adept nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Jenna, please let go of my arm!" Garet yelped, banging his head off of the table to try and escape the pain. She didn't let go.  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"We cut Ivan's hair!" Isaac yelled it out before he could stop himself, so shocked at the level of pain Jenna could inflict on his best friend. He immediately slapped his hands over his mouth. The others looked at him, shocked. Jenna even let go of Garet's arm.  
  
Ivan stared at Isaac, and the Venus adept knew that if looks could kill, it'd be best to start planning his funeral now.  
  
Sheba got up and walked over to Ivan. "Let me see."  
  
"No."  
  
"Come on, Ivan. It can't be that bad."  
  
"Oh, really?!" He pulled the hat off. Sheba gasped.  
  
His hair was almost completely gone. It had all been cut off, except for a little bit at the front that looked like it used to be his fringe.  
  
Isaac and Garet glanced at each other, and then fell to the floor laughing. It took Jenna and Mia almost half an hour to get them to stop.  
  
Later, later, later, later:  
  
The fun was over. Isaac and Garet had paid dearly for their act of revenge on Ivan. As soon as Jenna had gotten over the shock, she'd hit the roof and demanded that they apologise to the traumatised Jupiter adept. They had, half-heartedly, and she had then whacked them over the head with her staff a couple of times for god measure. Of course, Isaac and Garet were the only ones who knew the real reason why they'd done it. Jenna and Mia weren't allowed to know, or everything would be ruined.  
  
Now, Mia...in many ways she was worse than Jenna, and was now ignoring Isaac completely. This to him was a lot more painful then Jenna's yelling and physical abuse. How the Hell was he gonna tell Mia how he felt if she wasn't even speaking to him?  
  
But luckily, even though it was now only a small victory, he and Garet had been allowed to keep their own hair the way it was, no matter how much Sheba ranted about "An eye for an eye." And all that rubbish. Jenna, as angry at Garet as she was, had refused point-blank to him having his hair cut off. And it would have hardly been fair if Isaac had gotten that punishment when Garet had not.  
  
Thank Venus for Jenna's obsession with her boyfriend. It definitely came in handy sometimes.  
  
But still...  
  
"How long to you think we'll have to stay down here, Isaac?"  
  
Isaac glanced over at his best friend. "I don't know, Garet. It depends on how it'll take for Ivan to forgive us."  
  
"We'll be in here for ever!"  
  
"Yeah, well make the best of it. At least they locked us in my basement, not yours."  
  
Garet shuddered. "Uh huh. There are rats and snakes and stuff down there. My dad keeps promising he'll clean it out, but never does."  
  
"Your dad has problems." Isaac muttered.  
  
"Scary problems." The Mars adept agreed. "Do you want me to light another fire? It's pretty dark down here."  
  
"Uh, yeah."  
  
Garet put his palms together and a small flame spread across to the tips of his fingers, illuminating his hands in fire.  
  
"Cool."  
  
"No, it's not cool. It's hot, Isaac. Fire is hot."  
  
"You're an idiot." Isaac said, shaking his head.  
  
"I know you are, but what am I?"  
  
"Not to mention immature."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Jenna tells me all the time." Garet dismissed the insults with a shake of his head. "Get some new material, Isaac. Hey, maybe Mia will help you. Oh wait, that's right, she's not speaking to you!"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Heh heh heh."  
  
Isaac glared at him. "Just what is so funny?"  
  
"You're funny, Isaac. You and Mia. It's such a stupid situation you guys are in."  
  
"How do you mean?" He was curious now. Since when was the big, stupid Mars adept master of romance?  
  
"Well, just think about it. You could solve your problems with her easily by just telling her how you feel. One sentence is all it'll take."  
  
"Oh, yeah?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Hey, how have you had time to figure this all out?"  
  
Garet smiled. "Oh no, I haven't. I'm just repeating what Jenna was telling me last night. Full credit goes to her."  
  
"Last night, eh?" Isaac grinned wickedly. "Just what were you and Jenna doing last night?"  
  
Garet blushed scarlet and shook his head. "Aw come on, don't! You're as bad as my Dad!"  
  
"Oh, thanks." Isaac said dryly. "Nice of you to compare me to that old pervert."  
  
"My Dad is not a pervert!"  
  
"Then what is he?"  
  
"He's a, a...oh, alright. He's a big, old pervert. Satisfied?" Garet snapped. His friend's grin grew even wider, if that's even possible. He was starting to look like the Cheshire cat on acid. It was rather scary.  
  
"Immensely."  
  
"Well, whoopee for you." Garet grumbled sarcastically. "As soon as we get out of here, I'll throw you a party."  
  
"That's if we ever get out of here."  
  
"When. Not if. You're being a pessi...erm, a pessimast again."  
  
"It's pessimist, Garet. Pess-im-ist. Say it slowly after me now..."  
  
"Shut up, you. Just because I'm not a genius like you are doesn't mean I can't say passimist."  
  
"Pessimist!" Isaac yelled. This was getting frustrating. "It's not passimist, not pissimist, not even pessimast! It's pessimist!"  
  
"Whoa, alright, alright!" Garet put up his hands. "Don't Ragnarok me or anything, it's only a word!"  
  
"Yeah well, if you would only say it right I'd..." Isaac stopped his rant abruptly.  
  
Garet frowned. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Did you hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?"  
  
"Ssh, there it is again, listen!"  
  
They both listened silently. For a while there was nothing, then...  
  
Scrape, scrape, scrape. The sound of something scraping at the walls filled the dark basement.  
  
Isaac went pale. "N-Now do you hear it, Garet?"  
  
His friend swallowed nervously. "Yeah." The fire in his hands trembled.  
  
Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. It seemed to be getting closer.  
  
Isaac went, if possible, even paler. He turned to Garet. "Cast a bigger fire."  
  
Garet nodded and did so. Instantly, the tiny little flame that was sat on his palms erupted into a blaze. The light from it filled the room. They both looked over to the corner where they had heard the scraping sound, but nothing could have prepared them for what they would see there...  
  
"Felix?!" Garet's jaw almost hit the floor in shock. "What the Hell are you doing down here?!"  
  
Felix frowned. "What are you doing down here?"  
  
"I asked you first."  
  
"Tch, fine. I've been following you around for the past couple of days. Y'know, making sure you weren't cheating on my sister or whatever. But then when I was watching you kidnap Ivan yesterday, Isaac's mother caught me and put me down here as punishment for spying." He glared at their stunned faces. "Hey, if you had a sister, I'm sure you would do the same!"  
  
"I do have a sister, and I don't stalk her boyfriends!" Garet burst out angrily, but Isaac cut him off.  
  
"Let me get this straight, my mother put you down here yesterday, and she's still not let you out?" He said.  
  
Felix nodded. "I think her age is finally catching up on her."  
  
"Yeah well, I think your inner-psychopath has finally caught up with you! Imagine, spying on me for no go reason..." Garet went off into a rant, cursing everything from Felix and his downright weird habits, to Isaac, the little old man next door, his Djinn, some random rat that lived in his basement, his mother's cactus plant...  
  
"Tell me, do you ever shut up?" Felix snapped, after half an hour of Garet's tirade, which by now had successfully had a go at everything in the universe except himself, Jenna and his mother's cooking. "I swear I'll kill myself if I have to listen to another second of your whining!"  
  
"Is that a threat or a promise?"  
  
"If I kill myself, you'll never get to marry my sister."  
  
Garet eyes went as wide as dinner plates. "Wha...?! How the Hell do you know about that?!"  
  
"Well, I have been following you around since Tuesday."  
  
"You know everything, don't you?" Isaac said quietly, not liking the triumphant look in Felix's eyes.  
  
"Yes I do, Isaac. And I'm sure Mia would be delighted to know about your little thing for her."  
  
"You wouldn't dare."  
  
"Oh yes I would!" Felix smirked. "I spent three years living with Saturos and Menardi, you think I don't know how to put valuable information to good use?"  
  
"Blackmail you mean."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
Then, the door swung open, and light streamed into the tiny basement. Garet, Isaac and Felix took to the stairs, eager to get out of their prison. But as Isaac and Garet were out the door and ready to get back to their planning, Felix stopped them.  
  
"Don't forget, you guys. I know everything." And then he sauntered off.  
  
Garet turned to Isaac, his face quite pale. "Damn Isaac, how are we gonna get out of this one?"  
  
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ME: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! How indeed? Just what does Felix have planned for our two unfortunate young adepts? Doesn't Isaac realise that time is running out? Will Garet ever actually get round to proposing to Jenna? And will I ever stop asking these damn questions? Heh, the only way to find out is if you REVIEW! 


	6. Friday: Ivan's diary and Garet's proposa...

ME: Hey everybody. Welcome to Friday's chapter! But first, I have an announcement to make! (Those damn trumpets play again.) I have two new muses! Introducing, Chibi Garet and Chibi Jenna!  
  
They appear in a puff of smoke.  
  
CHIBI GARET: Wow, this place is cool!  
  
CHIBI JENNA: I love you, Garet! (Hugs Chibi Garet.)  
  
ME: Aw, dammit! Surely Chibi Jenna's not as obsessive as her adult counterpart! (Watches Chibi Jenna squeeze the life out of Chibi Garet.)  
  
CHIBI CHAO: It certainly appears so.  
  
ME: (Bangs head off of castle walls.) Argh! Why can't I get any normal muses?! (Bangs head again.) I wanted the original Garet and Jenna, but Triad Orion got them first! (Bangs head for a third time.) Waaaaaah!  
  
CHIBI CHAO: (Sweatdrops.) Well, it looks like the authoress is having a mental breakdown, so I'll do the disclaimer. (Glares at Chibi Garet and Chibi Jenna.) Amateurs.  
  
(WHISTLES SHARPLY.) LISTEN UP, BUB. DRAGON EMPRESS DOESN'T OWN GOLDEN SUN. GET WHAT I'M SAYNG? OR DO YOU NEED ME TO DRAW YOU A DIAGRAM?  
  
CHIBI GARET: Alright, on with the chapter!  
  
CHIBI CHAO: Hey, that's my line!  
  
CHIBI JENNA: Leave Garet alone! (Roasts Chao to a crisp.)  
  
CHIBI CHAO: (Sniffles.) Why does everyone always pick on me?  
  
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Isaac sang a morbid little tune to himself as he walked along the hallway on the second level of his house.  
  
"Oh, we killed that little bunny, boiled it up in oil. Used his paws for lucky charms, and brought it to the boil..."  
  
"Isaac! What have I told you about singing that awful song in my house!" His mother yelled from downstairs. He winced. So maybe it wasn't really his house.  
  
But still, it was Friday, and he didn't feel like being miserable. No wait, hold on, that didn't sound right.  
  
He did feel like being miserable. Really, really miserable. And not only that, he felt like making everyone else around him miserable too. Starting with the Jupiter adept that triggered all his problems...  
  
"Hello, Ivan." He said, his voice full of false-cheerfulness as he opened the door furthest to the left along the narrow hallway. "How do you plan to spend this fine Friday afternoon?"  
  
Ivan spun around quickly and shut the book he was writing in with a 'snap'! Isaac raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What'cha got there, Ivan?" He asked, trying to get a better look.  
  
The Jupiter adept hid the book from view. "N-Nothing."  
  
"Oh, really?" Isaac wasn't convinced. In fact, that little book looked suspiciously like diary...hello! A brilliant, albeit downright mean, idea began to form in the blonde Venus adept's usually mellow head. Garet would kill to see Ivan's diary! And it might even cheer him up about his Felix- induced depression.  
  
Even since Garet had learned that Felix knew about his proposed, uhh, proposal to Jenna, he'd been in a severe state of comic depression, i.e. hiding under his kitchen table.  
  
Safe to say, it would be an interesting weekend.  
  
"Uhh, Isaac? Why are you still here?" Ivan's voice cut through Isaac's thoughts like a knife.  
  
He refocused his attentions on Ivan and the diary. "Well, I was originally wondering if you wanted to go find the others with me, but now I want to have a look at that book you're oh-so-feebly trying to hide."  
  
Ivan paled. "No, you can't look at it. Isaac, no!"  
  
Isaac jumped forwards quickly and whipped the book from behind Ivan's back. He opened it, and began to read, despite Ivan angry shouts of protest. "Well, well, what do we have here, eh?  
  
Dear diary:  
  
Why won't Sheba notice me? It's not fair, even Garet can get a girlfriend, so why can't I? And speaking of Jenna, I swear that girl has some severe anger management problems. She really needs to get counselling to stop her from burning things and beating people up. Still, she's pretty hot, I'll give her that. But Sheba's much prettier.  
  
Why won't Sheba notice me?"  
  
Isaac stopped reading and quirked an eyebrow at Ivan. "Well, Ivan, this is very interesting stuff. And I'm sure Garet and Jenna would love to see what you've written about them. Sheba might be quite interested too."  
  
"Y-You wouldn't, Isaac, you're a nice guy!"  
  
"Yeah, and I thought the same of you this time last week. But you've shown your true colours now. I think I'll be keeping this." He shut the diary and left Ivan's room, leaving the younger blonde adept to sink to the floor in despair.  
  
Never again would he try to get one over on Isaac, he'd definitely learned his lesson. Yeah, from now on, there would be a new, less weasel-ish version of Ivan.  
  
He thought about this for a moment as he lay on the dusty wooden floor. Only good can come from change, right? Right?  
  
Nah!  
  
Meanwhile, along the corridor:  
  
Isaac slammed his bedroom door behind him and jumped onto his bed, Ivan's diary in hand. Now, the only thing he had to think about was what to do with it.  
  
"Show it to the others, go on. You know you want to!" Suddenly, a voice appeared at his left ear. He turned his head and came face-to-face with one of his Venus Djinn, complete with little horns and a miniature pitchfork.  
  
"Flint! What're you doing here?"  
  
"I came here to help you out Isaac, old man." The Djinn said, with a wicked grin on his face that could only look weird on a tiny little creature like himself. "And I know what's best for you, so show the diary to Garet. Show it to Jenna and Mia too. Hell, show it to everyone!"  
  
"No, Isaac, Ivan's your friend." Another little voice appeared on his right shoulder, and Isaac turned his head again to see another little Djinn, this one kitted out with a tiny little halo and a harp.  
  
"Granite?"  
  
"Yup, it's me!" It squeaked happily, doing a little spin in mid-air and then landing back on his shoulder. "And I'm here to make sure you don't listen to Flint."  
  
"Yah boo to you, Granite! You're such a killjoy!" Flint sneered from the left.  
  
"I'm not! I just don't want Isaac to do something he might regret."  
  
"Why would he regret showing everyone Ivan's diary? The little bugger's been nothing but a pain all week!"  
  
"Don't swear, Flint!"  
  
"What are you, my mother?"  
  
"I resent that!"  
  
Isaac stood up abruptly, causing the two Djinn to topple off his shoulders. "Guys, please. With all respect, I can deal with my own problems." He sighed. "But as much as I hate to admit it, Granite has a point."  
  
Flint stared at him in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me!"  
  
"I knew you'd see reason, Isaac!" Granite chirped happily.  
  
Isaac nodded in agreement. "I know he's been a pain in the arse all week, but he's still my friend."  
  
"Unbelievable. Isaac, I thought you were smarter than that!"  
  
"Go away, Flint."  
  
"Fine!" It huffed angrily and disappeared with a 'pop'.  
  
"Yay! Way to go, Isaac!"  
  
"You go away too."  
  
"Tch, there's gratitude for you." And with another little 'pop', Granite was gone too.  
  
Isaac shook his head. Now he was sure he was going crazy. Since when did Djinn carry harps and pitchforks?! Call in the healers, because he was all set to start bouncing off walls...  
  
But anyway, back the diary. It was still held tightly in his right hand, and he sat back down ion his bed and opened it.  
  
He was going to hand it back.  
  
Eventually.  
  
Later, in Garet's house:  
  
"My life is over, I should just go kill myself now! Why, am I so stupid? Why?!" Garet wailed from underneath the table.  
  
"Shut up, Garet." His sister snapped, whilst going into the cupboards to get some milk. "Can't you give it a rest with all the 'I'm so stupid' stuff? We all know you're stupid."  
  
"He is not!" Jenna said, from where she was sitting. She'd been trying all day to get him out from under there, but it just wasn't happening for her. Hell, she didn't even know why he was under the table in the first place! "Garet, please come out!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because if I do, he'll get me!"  
  
"Who'll get you, Garet?"  
  
For a moment there was silence. Then in a small voice, Garet muttered, "Felix."  
  
His sister burst out laughing, but Jenna was far from amused. She looked all set to go teach her 'darling' brother a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.  
  
"Felix!" She burst out angrily, standing up so suddenly that the chair toppled to the floor behind her. "Oh, I should've known! I'll kill him! I'll bloody murder him!" Picking up her staff, she kicked open the back door and stormed out, swearing loudly.  
  
Garet stuck his head out from underneath the tablecloth. "Where did she go?" He asked his sister, who was still laughing.  
  
"I think she's going to go beat up Felix." She answered.  
  
All the colour drained from his face, and he scrambled to his feet, whacking his head off of the table in the process. "Oh, no, she can't! He'll tell her everything!" He ran out of the kitchen.  
  
His sister just shook her head and turned her attention back to getting some milk. "Nutters. Absolute loonies."  
  
Felix and Jenna's house (Wow, we're really getting around today!):  
  
"Felix!" Jenna furious voice shattered the silence that had previously occupied the little house by the river she currently shared with her brother. "Felix!"  
  
"Jenna? What's wrong?" He appeared at the top of the stairs.  
  
"Get down here, now!"  
  
Felix raised his eyebrows. He hadn't seen his sister this angry since that last time Garet had forgotten to get her a Valentine's Day present and she was suffering from a severe case of PMS. Oh, the horror...  
  
As soon as he reached the bottom step, Jenna grabbed him roughly by the collar and shoved him up against the wall.  
  
"What did you do to my Garet?!" She barked.  
  
"Nothing!"  
  
Her grip tightened. "Don't lie to me, Felix. I can read you like a book. Now, what did you do to my Garet that was so terrible he felt like he had to hide under a table all day?!"  
  
"He was hiding under a table? Wow, result!"  
  
"Felix..."  
  
"Oh, alright. I'll tell you. But first you have to let me go!"  
  
She did. He straightened himself up and frowned at her.  
  
"So?"  
  
"Okay, it all started off when..."  
  
"Get to the point, Felix! I don't have all day."  
  
"He wants marry you. I heard him talking about it with Isaac."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"You heard."  
  
"But...but why was he under the table?" Jenna stuttered, trying to take it all in. Garet wanted to marry her!  
  
"Well, he found out I knew, and I kinda, erm... scared him off." Felix rubbed the back of his head and tried to look innocent. "Of course, I didn't mean to..." But he never got to finish the sentence, seeing as Jenna had her hand at his throat again.  
  
"You did what?!" Damn, she was angrier than he'd ever seen. "Garet wants to marry me, and you scared him off?! I can't believe you, Felix. Every chance for happiness I get, you manage to ruin. It's just, just..."  
  
"No, Jenna, don't kill him!" Garet burst through the door. Then he tripped over the doormat and skidded along the varnished wooden floor. "Ouch."  
  
Jenna immediately let her brother out of her death grip and went to help him up. He brushed himself off and turned to face her.  
  
"How much has he told you?"  
  
"Everything."  
  
Garet sighed and reached into his pocket. "Well, I might as well make a go of it then." He got down on one knee and opened a little black box, which contained a diamond ring with a fiery-red stone in the centre. "Jenna, I love you. I've loved you for years, even before...before all the trouble with Saturos and Menardi. So, will you marry me?"  
  
Her face split into a wide smile and she hugged him tightly. "Oh, Garet. Of course I will!"  
  
"Really?!"  
  
"Yes."  
  
They broke apart hastily and Garet put the ring on her finger. It was a perfect fit. "Well that's good, 'cos this ring wasn't cheap y'know."  
  
"Hey! Have you guys just forgotten me in the middle of your little love- fest?" Felix snapped irritably. "You don't even have my permission!"  
  
"Shut up, Felix." Jenna said, still smiling as she helped Garet up again. "I don't need your permission, I'm an adult. Come on Garet, let's go tell everyone else."  
  
He grinned and took her hand. Then together they departed, leaving Felix standing alone at the foot of the stairs.  
  
"Damn."  
  
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #  
  
ME: Awwwwww. Everybody say awwwwww! (Everyone says "awwwwww".) Wasn't that nice? And I'll bet you thought I'd keep that 'till the last chapter or something. You did, didn't you?  
  
CHIBI GARET: Stop harassing them, or they might now review!  
  
ME: Quiet you. They'll review, 'cos if they don't I'll, erm...kill one of them at random! (Laughs evilly, and receives worried stares.) What? 


	7. Saturday: Psycho Isaac gets his revenge!

ME: (Is barricading the doors and windows of her castle.) MWAHAHAHAHA! Let's see Trogdor get me now!  
  
CHIBI GARET: (Sweatdrop.) Uhh, Empress?  
  
ME: What do you want?  
  
CHIBI GARET: Who's Trogdor?  
  
ME: He's the Burniator from Homestar Runner.com. Triad Orion and Jenna have set him on me because I asked to 'borrow' Garet.  
  
CHIBI GARET: Oh.  
  
CHIBI CHAO: That's not weird at all.  
  
ME: Yeah well, help me shut this door properly or we'll all die.  
  
CHIBI GARET: Tch, fine. (Welds the door shut.)  
  
ME: Meanwhile, someone do the disclaimer!  
  
BLAH BLAH BLAH, GOLDEN SUN. BLAH BLAH BAH BLAH BLAH, DRAGON EMPRESS BLAH DOESN'T OWN IT. BLAH BLAH BLAH WAFFLES, BLAH BLAH DINOSAURS, BLAH TOAST.  
  
Me: Heh heh heh, on with the chapter!  
  
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #  
  
"So Garet, when's the big day exactly" Isaac asked, leaning forward on the table that yesterday, his best friend in the whole world spent most of his day hiding under.  
  
Garet shrugged. "Dunno. I think I'm just gonna let Jenna go ahead and organise everything. She looks like she knows what she's doing."  
  
"Tch, knowing Jenna she's been planning this since she was five years old or something."  
  
"Yeah, probably."  
  
Isaac scratched his knuckle absently, and then said, "How did you do it?"  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Y'know, get the courage to ask her something like that? I mean, I can't even tell Mia how I feel about her, never mind ask her to marry me."  
  
"Hey, don't worry about it, Isaac. You've still got today to do it. Be a man!" Garet grinned and swung on the back two legs of his chair. "It's not so hard."  
  
"You make it sound so easy. I mean, what if she says no?"  
  
"It's easy! Isaac, you've just got to grit your teeth and."  
  
"Hi, guys!" Mia, Sheba and Jenna entered the kitchen, arms laden with heavy- looking shopping bags. Garet stopped talking immediately and tried to swing back on the chair. But unfortunately for him, he was a little too heavy and the chair legs snapped under his weight, sending him tumbling onto the floor. "God dammit!"  
  
"Oh, Garet!" Jenna dropped the stuff she was carrying and rushed over to her new fiancé. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Stupid chair." He got to his feet and booted the broken chair. "Piece of crap. I tell you, never, ever trust my father to make furniture!"  
  
"You sure you're alright?"  
  
"I'm fine, Jenna. You think I'm gonna get myself killed before we get married? Heh, think for a minute about just who it is I'm marrying. I wouldn't dare!"  
  
She mock-glared at him for a second and then kissed him quickly. "Just as well."  
  
Meanwhile on the other side of the room, Isaac was fake throwing up into a bucket, while Mia and Sheba watched on in amusement.  
  
"Don't they just make you sick?" The blonde Venus adept muttered in disgust. "Oh, Garet! Are you alright, I was so worried! I thought maybe that fall would destroy the few brain cells you have left!" He mimicked in a high voice.  
  
Jenna shot him a death-glare. "Watch it, Isaac. Or you won't live to be best man."  
  
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry." He put the bucket down and stood up. "Come on, Garet. We've got very important things to do today."  
  
"We have?"  
  
"Yes. Now come on."  
  
"Oh, alright then." Garet kissed Jenna once more and then followed Isaac out the back door. "Bye, Jenna."  
  
She grabbed his hand. "Do you have to go?"  
  
"Looks like it."  
  
"Aw. I'll miss you."  
  
"I'll miss you more."  
  
"No way, I'll miss you more!"  
  
"Nuh uh! I will most definitely miss you more!"  
  
"Come on, Garet!" Isaac re-entered the kitchen, looking absolutely revolted, and grabbed his friend's left arm. "You can do disgustingly cute things with your fiancée later!"  
  
"You're just jealous."  
  
"Of you? Not a chance my friend."  
  
"Oh yeah?"  
  
"Yeah. Now let's go!"  
  
Garet said goodbye to Jenna one more time before following Isaac out into the brilliant sunshine.  
  
"So, what's so important I can't spend my Saturday with Jenna?" Garet demanded as son as they were out of earshot of the kitchen.  
  
Isaac motioned for him to shut up and pulled a little, black book out of his backpack, which he still had an annoying habit of carrying around with him. Garet stared at the book blankly.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Ssh! It's...it's Ivan's diary." The Venus adept whispered.  
  
Garet's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "You're kidding!" He exclaimed, grinning broadly.  
  
"No, I'm serious. I stole it off him yesterday."  
  
"Way to go, Isaac! Let me have a look then."  
  
Isaac pulled the book out of his friend's reach. "Not out here. Wait 'till we get back to my house."  
  
"Oh, okay."  
  
The pair arrived at Isaac's house about three minutes later. They hurried up the stairs to his bedroom and locked the door.  
  
"Right. Show me the diary now, Isaac!" Garet said, excitedly. His friend handed it to him and he opened it and began to flick through the pages. "Heh heh heh, he still sleeps with a teddy bear!"  
  
"I know!"  
  
"Oh, and what's this? Sheba...another little thing about Sheba...Sheba...Sheba doesn't love me. Oh, boo hoo." He grinned wickedly. "Isaac, this stuff is gold!"  
  
"Yeah, I know! Brilliant, huh?"  
  
"Absolutely."  
  
"Hey, check out the latest entry."  
  
"Alright." Garet flipped through the pages again. "Da da da, Sheba, Sheba...Jenna!? What the Hell?! He think she's a pyromaniac!"  
  
"Well, in all fairness..."  
  
"I know, I know. Given the chance, the woman would burn anything and everything on the face of the Earth."  
  
Isaac nodded. "Nice to see you've come to terms with it."  
  
"Well, I'm not exactly a saint when it come to playing with fire myself."  
  
"Damn, you two really are perfect for each other, aren't you?"  
  
"Heh heh heh." Garet scratched the back of his neck and grinned widely. "Yeah."  
  
Isaac shook his head and smiled at his best friend. It was amazing how Jenna had the ability to turn the big, brash Mars adept into a pathetic, hopeless-romantic. Hell, when Garet got like this, you could maybe even start to call him normal.  
  
No, scratch that. What's normal about being in love?  
  
"Uhh, Isaac. Hello? You still in there?"  
  
Isaac snapped out of his musings instantly. "Wha-what?"  
  
"I said, what are we going to do with the diary? I say we use it blackmail Ivan."  
  
"My thoughts exactly."  
  
Along the corridor, in Ivan's room:  
  
The young Jupiter adept lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling blankly. The calm façade of a troubled mind.  
  
He was so screwed.  
  
It was yesterday that his diary was stolen from him, and it still hadn't been returned. Isaac had surely shown it to the others by now.  
  
He was so screwed...but I've already told you that, so...  
  
"Hey, Ivan!" The bedroom door burst open violently, and Garet and Isaac strode in. The former looked positively delighted about something, and that was worrying in itself. Since when was Garet this happy?  
  
Ivan's eyes narrowed as they set themselves on the Mars adept. "What are you so cheerful about?"  
  
"Ah, my good man, you're behind the times!" Garet said, looking even more pleased after being asked the question. "Y'see, yesterday I did something that I'm very proud of..."  
  
"Get to the point, Garet." Isaac said irritably, from where he was standing in the doorway. "We're not here so you can deliver the news."  
  
"Tch, fine. Spoilsport." He glared briefly at the Venus adept, and then turned his attention back to Ivan. "I asked Jenna to marry me. Great, huh?"  
  
"What? Really?! Yeah, that is pretty great, Garet. Congratulations."  
  
"Why, thank you. But now, seeing as the pleasantries out of the way, I'm afraid I 'm going to have to step back and let Isaac verbally poison your fragile mind and steal information for his own well being and sanity. It is his speciality afterall."  
  
Once again, Ivan mentally cursed Garet's new dictionary.  
  
"Damn straight, Garet." Isaac said, finally entering the room and shutting the door behind him. "So let's get down to business." He took the diary out from behind his back. Ivan made a grab for it, but the slightly taller adept managed to keep it successfully out of reach.  
  
"Isaac! Give me that!"  
  
"Not, not yet. So sit down or I'll let Garet finish what he started with the huge pair of scissors my mother uses to cut bushes in the garden."  
  
Ivan went pale and pulled the Lure cap tighter around his ears. He still couldn't find a better hat, even after spending all yesterday morning searching. It was extremely frustrating. And embarrassing.  
  
Further proof that Garet's future career does not lie in the barber industry.  
  
Ivan sat down on the bed.  
  
"There's a good boy."  
  
"Don't patronize me."  
  
"Oh, but I will. And unless you wan the contents of the diary..."  
  
"It's not a diary! It's a journal of my thoughts."  
  
"Sure it is. Now, like I was saying, unless you want the contents of this diary pasted all over the streets of Vale, you'd better behave yourself."  
  
"As in how?"  
  
"Well, you remember when we kidnapped you and cut off almost all your hair? Yup? Good, 'cos the rules are the same. No more jokes, sly comments, or whatever you think they are about anything concerning Mia and myself. Alright?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
Isaac nodded. "Good. Now, here is your diary." He handed the book over to Ivan, who snatched it and held it tightly.  
  
"I knew you'd give it back!" He exclaimed happily, and then sobered quickly. "Now get out, I've got yesterday's entry to write as well as today's."  
  
"Hmph, some gratitude..." Garet began.  
  
"Out!"  
  
"Fine, fine. We're going!"  
  
As the pair made their way out of Ivan's bedroom, the door slammed behind then sharply.  
  
Garet leaned against the doorframe and said, "Well, that wasn't as satisfying as I thought it's be. You let him off lightly there, Isaac."  
  
"Oh, don't be so sure." From his belt, Isaac produced several rolled up bits of paper that looked that they'd been torn out of a book. "I kept all the best bits."  
  
"Why, Isaac, I didn't know you had it in you. Pure genius! Evil genius sure, but still genius!" The Mars adept rubbed his hands eagerly. "So, what are you gonna do with them?"  
  
"Ooh, how about we stick them up somewhere where everybody can see them."  
  
"Like where?"  
  
"Like on shop doors down in the plaza?"  
  
"And in their windows!"  
  
"Yeah!" Isaac laughed evilly, which rated extremely high on the 'damn-scary things' scale.  
  
Well, in Garet's opinion it did anyway. Usually the rules said, Garet=evil, Isaac=good. But recently, man, Isaac had really gone off the handle. Just how desperate was he to get Mia to stay in Vale?  
  
How far was he gonna go to get back at Ivan?  
  
"Hey dopey, come on, we don't have all day!"  
  
"Y'wha...?" Garet said, still caught up in his thoughts. (That's pretty scary too. I mean, since when did Garet think?!)  
  
"I said, come on. Let's get moving. Get your arse in gear, that sort of thing. In other words, let's go! These things won't stick themselves all over Vale, now will they?"  
  
"You never know, they might..." Garet muttered, grinning at Isaac, who just rolled his eyes and looked annoyed.  
  
"Garet, don't force me to Ragnarok you into next year." He warned. "'Cos I've not had the best temper recently..."  
  
"Really?! Mars, I never even noticed! Wow, let me stop to thank you for telling me this absolutely astounding piece of news!"  
  
Now that's sarcasm.  
  
Unfortunately, Isaac was far from amused and gave Garet an extremely harsh glare that reminded him that the offer of being Ragnarok-ed into next year was still standing.  
  
"Yeah, you're right. Let's go." The Mars adept said quickly.  
  
"We can't do it now. It's broad daylight!"  
  
"Then when?"  
  
"Tonight, when everyone's asleep. That way we can give Ivan a nice surprise in the morning." Isaac's eyes shone with an evil gleam that made the colour drain from his best friend's face.  
  
Psycho Isaac.  
  
Extremely disturbing.  
  
Much, much later:  
  
It was almost midnight, and a quiet darkness had long descended upon the sleepy town. Not a soul moved in the streets.  
  
Well, except for two...  
  
"You're late." The man said, squinting into the blackness as the second man appeared.  
  
"Sorry. I was, erm, busy." The second man said, glancing around wildly. "You're sure we wont get caught?" He asked.  
  
The other nodded. "Relax. We'll get this done quickly, and then you can go back to your...business." He smirked in satisfaction as his companion spluttered in embarrassment.  
  
"It's not what you think."  
  
"Sure it's not."  
  
"Look, are we here to talk, or to get this...insane stunt of yours over and done with?"  
  
"A little bit of both, if that's what you want."  
  
"Shut up. I want to go to bed, I'm really, really tired."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure you are."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"Fine, fine, be boring. Let's just do this thing. Did you bring the glue?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Well then, let's get to work."  
  
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #  
  
ME: Ah, that was a long chapter. Quite funny though. I enjoyed writing this one.  
  
CHIBI CHAO: As much as you're enjoying the last chapter?  
  
ME: Oh no, that one's gonna be great! And even longer than this one, lot's happening on Sunday. I mean, what's Isaac going to do when he realises that his need for revenge over Ivan has left him with no days left to tell Mia how he feels.  
  
CHIBI GARET: MWAHAHAHAHA! I love it when you make Isaac suffer!  
  
ME: Yes, it is rather fun. But anyway, you all better make sure you review, or you'll never see what happens next. Oh, it's gonna be good!  
  
There is a knock at the main door.  
  
ME: Wha...? Just who could that be?  
  
CHIBI JENNA: Make the boys go get it! (*Cough, cough. Famous last words.*)  
  
CHIBI CHAO: Oh, fine. Come on, Garet. (They open the door.)  
  
TROGDOR: ROAR!  
  
ME: Oh, no... 


	8. Sunday: Please don't kill me!

ME: Hello readers, I apologise for the delay in the posting of this chapter, but it did take a while for the doctors to put my spine back in after the Trogdor 'incident'. (Shudders.)  
  
CHIBI GARET: In other words, the authoress was just too damn lazy to get this chapter finished.  
  
ME: Tell me, Chibi Garet, do you want to die slowly and painfully?  
  
CHIBI GARET: No.  
  
ME: Then shut up. (Smacks Chibi Garet with her staff.) But anyway, the disclaimer!  
  
NO, I DON'T OWN GOLDEN SUN. BUT I DO WANT TO MARRY GARET, DOES THAT COUNT FOR ANYTHING?  
  
ME: Right, enough stalling, get on with the chapter!  
  
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #  
  
Garet sat, or rather perched, perilously on the narrow branch. Damn it, trees were just not made for Mars adepts to climb in!  
  
Still, he didn't doubt that it was a great deal safer up here than on the ground.  
  
"I swear, if you don't get down from that tree right now, I'll be forced to use lightning to remove you instead!" Came a sharp, angry bark from ground level.  
  
Yes, much safer.  
  
Peering down through the branches, he could just make out Ivan's furious face glaring up at him. Obviously, last night's little 'prank' had not been well received.  
  
"How do we manage to get ourselves into these situations?" He asked Isaac, who was sitting on a branch above him.  
  
The Venus adept just shrugged. "Luck?"  
  
Garet snorted. "Yeah, this is very lucky. And totally your fault, may I add."  
  
"I suppose I am to blame."  
  
"You suppose?"  
  
"Yes. Though by agreeing to participate, it's partially your fault too." Isaac looked down at him, grinning. "And you've got to admit, it was hilarious when he saw where we put the pages of his diary."  
  
"Yeah." Garet laughed a little. "He just about popped a blood vessel!"  
  
"Get down from there, now!" Ivan attempted to blast the entire tree into dust with Shine plasma, but was restrained by Jenna and Sheba.  
  
"Don't even consider it, Ivan." Jenna said warningly. "You just let me deal with Garet. I know how to really hurt him."  
  
Garet paled.  
  
"Yeah, and I'm sure Mia will deal with Isaac. As soon as she's finished packing, that is." Sheba added, nodding.  
  
Isaac's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and all the colour drained from his face. "Oh, Venus, no. I can't believe I forgot about that!"  
  
"Forgot what?"  
  
"It's Sunday today."  
  
"Yeah, so?" Then realisation slowly spread across Garet's face. "Oh..."  
  
"Oh no, oh, no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no..." Isaac started to rock back and forth on the branch like a crazy person.  
  
"Calm down Isaac, you're shaking the tree!"  
  
"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no..."  
  
"Isaac! Stop it, I'm gonna fall...whoa!" The branch the heavy-set Mars adept was sitting on gave way and he plummeted to the ground. "O-Ow..."  
  
"Garet!" Isaac looked down. "You alright?"  
  
"What the Hell do you think?! I just fell out of a tree! But apart from that, yeah, I'm having a great bloody time!"  
  
"Wait there, I'm coming down." Uneasily, for climbing trees was not a habit of his, Isaac clambered down. "Damn, it's much easier to get up than down."  
  
"Well, it wasn't for me!" Garet snapped, still lying on the ground. Suddenly, he was grabbed and pinned up against the tree by his charming fiancée.  
  
"Now, any last words before I kill you?" She said, smiling pleasantly. But anyone who knew Jenna could tell you that it was the sugary-sweet smile of the executioner while sharpening his axe.  
  
"Uh...I love you?"  
  
Holding her staff at his chest, she made to hit him, but at the last moment her hand wavered and she smacked the tree angrily instead. "Dammit, you get me every time with that one!"  
  
"Hey, why isn't there any pain happening?" Ivan asked incredulously. "Of course he loves you, he's marrying you! Why else would he want to marry you, for protection?! Although, that may be a factor now I think about it..."  
  
"Shut up, Ivan."  
  
"Yeah Ivan, shut up." Garet stuck his tongue out at the younger adept. "You can't get me now!"  
  
"Oh, I never said that." Jenna released him and stepped back. "Just because I won't kill you doesn't mean I'm gonna save you from anyone else."  
  
Sparks flew from Ivan's hands and he grinned maliciously. "You're going to get it now, Garet."  
  
"Eep." Turning, the male Mars adept ran for his life.  
  
"Hey! Get back here!" Ivan sprinted after him.  
  
Isaac took this opportunity to hop down from the tree onto the ground. "Ah, that's more like it. Solid ground again. Now I can focus solely on my emotional problems." He fell to the ground and curled up into a ball. "Mia...please don't leave me..."  
  
Garet ran past again and stopped to stand over his best friend. "You sir, are pathetic. Tell her how you feel already!"  
  
"It's too late...too late..."  
  
"I can do it for you, if you like."  
  
Isaac was on his feet instantly. "You wouldn't dare!"  
  
His friend laughed evilly. "Oh, but I would. I might just go see Mia right now..."  
  
"You're not going anywhere!" Isaac tackled Garet and twisted his arm back.  
  
"Ow! Get off me, you maniac!"  
  
"Promise you'll not tell?"  
  
"I promise nothing!"  
  
Isaac twisted harder. "Promise, dammit! Promise me you won't tell Mia!"  
  
"I...promise...nothing!"  
  
A little way off, Ivan, Sheba and Jenna watched them with eyebrows raised.  
  
Jenna shook her head and looked at the other two. "Y'know, I think it's about time we took matters into our own hands."  
  
MWAHAHAHAHA! Later on, at Jenna and Felix's house:  
  
Garet walked into the living room, a large purple bruise on his right forearm blooming beautifully. Everyone else had refused point-blank to heal any of his Isaac-inflicted injuries...  
  
"Jenna! Hey, Jenna! Dammit, are you in here, woman?" He looked under the settee.  
  
"I don't think she's under there."  
  
Garet jumped up like someone had just poured ice on him. "Felix, don't scare me like that!"  
  
"Why not? It's very amusing." Felix said, smirking. "Oh, and I also know that you're scared of snakes, the sky falling on your head and the wrath of my sister when she's angry."  
  
"How the Hell do you know that?"  
  
"I keep my ears open. Also, remember when we were younger and you cried for hours because your sister put that tiny grass snake in your bed?"  
  
"It was huge!" Garet snapped back defensively. "And plus, I was only a kid."  
  
"You were thirteen, Garet."  
  
"So? I happen to know that you're afraid of ponies and daffodils."  
  
Felix gasped. "Jenna told you, didn't she?!"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Damn her! That girl couldn't keep a secret if it was hidden up her skirt!"  
  
"Nope, I'd find it easily."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Erm, forget I said that..." Garet backed away a little. "But anyway, this is all besides the point, have you even seen Jenna today?"  
  
"No, not since she left with her 'Kill and maim Garet and Isaac party' this morning anyway. I would've went too, but I needed my morning vodka."  
  
"Morning vodka?"  
  
"Yes, I got into that bad habit while travelling with Saturos and Menardi. They only packed limited amounts of water, and instead carried bootleg Gondowan-style vodka. It's good stuff, y'know."  
  
"Really? You got any in the house?"  
  
"Of course." Felix smirked again. "Though I doubt you could handle it."  
  
"Oh yeah? Well, we'll see about that! Bring out the alcohol, smart guy!"  
  
Felix nodded and disappeared into the kitchen, emerging moments later with a large clear bottle, full of liquid, and two shot glasses. He set them on the table and then sat down on the settee.  
  
"Come on then, now we'll see who can't handle it." Garet took a glass and poured some of the vodka into it. He downed it in one go, and then fought hard to actually keep it down. It was ridiculously strong.  
  
"Oh, you're gonna regret this when you're sober." Felix said gleefully, also taking a shot.  
  
"Shut up and pour me another."  
  
Meanwhile, Isaac's house:  
  
Sheba, Jenna and Ivan were all sat at the kitchen table. Mia was still upstairs packing (How long does it take?) and Isaac had disappeared, but it was thought that he was either under his bed, being generally pathetic, or dead in the river.  
  
The latter was unlikely though, no matter how much Ivan wished for it.  
  
"I can't believe we're actually helping Isaac after what he and Garet did to me!" He exclaimed, after watching Jenna write some ideas down and then burn them when she realised how stupid they were.  
  
"Hey, this isn't just about Isaac. Mia deserves happiness too." The Mars adept shot back, writing something else down, and then burning it, along with the entire sheet of paper.  
  
"Stop burning all the paper!"  
  
"Make me!"  
  
"Never mind..."  
  
Jenna wrote something else, burnt it, and then stood up so suddenly that Ivan almost fell backwards off his chair. "This is useless!"  
  
Sheba snorted. "You're telling me."  
  
"I think we need the help and advice of someone with a history of pulling off big plans and scams."  
  
"You mean Felix?" Sheba sat up a little straighter in her chair. Ivan noticed this from where he was sitting and scowled.  
  
"Yeah, I mean, he'll know what to do."  
  
"Okay then, let's go to Felix." They rose and departed, Ivan trudging slightly behind the girls.  
  
He just didn't get it, Sheba had seen the diary pages too, but had brushed it off like nothing had happened. Just what was going on with that girl anyway?  
  
"Ivan, hurry the Hell up!"  
  
He gulped nervously. Jenna was scary. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"  
  
Back to Felix and Garet (Like a yo-yo.):  
  
"And another thing, y-you know those guys with the *hic* beards, who live in those big places and c-cure you from *hic* illnesses?"  
  
"Y-Yeah."  
  
"Do you think they can cure *hic* hiccoughs?"  
  
"I-I don't know, but the one in La...Lalive...Lalivero didn't have a beard..."  
  
"He *hic* didn't?"  
  
"No, he just had a moustache."  
  
Garet giggled stupidly. "Moustache is a *hic* f-funny word."  
  
Felix started to giggle too. "Yeah, but you know what word's even f- funnier?"  
  
"W-What?"  
  
"Weevil."  
  
"Hee hee hee, weevil...h-how do they come up with this *hic* stuff?"  
  
"I don't know." Felix shook his head dismissively and reached for the vodka bottle, only to find it empty. "Aw, that was the last one..."  
  
All around the drunken pair were empty bottles, all with the words 'Saturos' vodka, keep your damn hands off! This means you, Kraden.' Written in black, scrawled handwriting on the side.  
  
Then somewhere nearby (They were too out of it to tell exactly where.) a door slammed, and three (Or possibly nine, ten, eleven...) pairs of feet could be heard walking into another room.  
  
"Hey, there you are, Felix! We've been looking all over for...what the Hell happened here?" Jenna, Ivan and Sheba walked into the living room.  
  
"F-Felix, what the Hell happened here? Jenna wants to know." Garet asked the older man, who was slumped on the settee next to him.  
  
"I-I don't know. Maybe a, a...dragon! Yeah, a dragon...came and blew some stuff up, o-or something..."  
  
"Are you guys drunk?!" Jenna looked horrified.  
  
"F-Felix, are we drunk?"  
  
"Well, I don't know about you, Garet my good man, but I'm absolutely hammered!"  
  
"Then that's the answer." Garet turned to face his now fuming fiancée. "Yes, my dear Jenna, we're positively wasted!"  
  
"I can't believe you guys! How could you?!"  
  
"W-Well, it was fairly easy. All we had to do was get the vodka, pour in into a glass and then..."  
  
"Shut up, Felix! I'm going to kill you both!"  
  
"Why Jenna? Don't you love me anymore?" Garet's lower lip quivered, and he burst into tears. "You don't love me!"  
  
Felix hugged him. "Don't cry, Garet, I'm sure Jenna will come around. And if not, she doesn't deserve you!"  
  
Jenna's jaw just about hit the floor in shock. I mean, not only was Garet crying like a baby, but Felix was actually being nice to him!  
  
Talk about weird...  
  
"Felix, let go of Garet before I break your arms. Garet, yes I do still love you, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to kick your arse for getting drunk."  
  
Garet wiped his tears on his shirt. "Y-You do?"  
  
Jenna sighed. "Yes, unfortunately."  
  
He jumped off the chair and engulfed her in a huge bearhug. "Yay! Jenna loves me!"  
  
"Urgh, get off me. You smell like your Dad!" Jenna pushed him back down onto the settee.  
  
Garet sniffed his shirt. "Hey, I do smell like Dad! Damn, and he always tells Mother that it's his new cologne..."  
  
"Well then your mother's a gullible fool." Ivan snapped, annoyed at the current situation and how it was putting all their plans to a halt.  
  
"Oy! Don't you say that a-about my Mum! I'll fight you, I will." The drunken adept jumped to his feet again, but lost his balance and fell over. "I'll...erm, I'll fight you in minute, once I get up."  
  
"I don't think you're in any state to be doing anything. But unfortunately we need your help." Sheba took a seat on the edge of the table, careful not to sit on any of the empty bottles. "You guys know about Isaac and Mia's current 'situation', right?"  
  
"Of course we do. Me and I-Isaac have been making plans to get Mia to stay in Vale all *hic* week. Hey, my *hic* hiccoughs are back!"  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Yeah, along with some *hic* other stuff too. Y'see it all started when me and Isaac made a *hic* deal, saying I'd help him find a w-way to make Mia stay in *hic* Vale if he *hic* helped me find a way to ask J-Jenna to marry me." Garet grinned drunkenly from where he was still lying on the floor. "Of course, neither of us got any of our *hic* plans in motion, seeing as we're both useless *hic* prats..." He giggled. "Prat is a funny *hic* word."  
  
"Y-Yeah, so is weevil!"  
  
"Quiet you. I'm not *hic* finished..."  
  
"Oh but you are, you need to go to bed now, Garet. Sleep off the effects of the alcohol and all that guff." Jenna held him roughly by his shoulders and helped him to his feet. "Come on, you can sleep in my bed."  
  
"That's not *hic* unusual."  
  
"Shut up, Garet." They walked out. Or rather, Jenna helped Garet walk out, seeing as he seemed to be having major difficulty standing up in general.  
  
This left Ivan and Sheba alone with an extremely inebriated Felix.  
  
"Do you guys think that weevil is a f-funny word too?"  
  
Safe to say, they weren't gonna get much planning done.  
  
Tum tee tum, back to Isaac's house again:  
  
Mia hummed a merry little tune to herself as she packed her bags. Garet had tried to teach her to whistle once, but it was one of those things she just couldn't seem to master, like climbing trees.  
  
Or figuring out the workings of the male mind.  
  
And, for all you less observant people, it was fairly obvious that our dear, cowardly friend Isaac was also a member of that particular species of being that Mia wondered about so much. At first, she'd found it notoriously difficult to notice the little things about guys that knowledgeable woman tell you to look out for. Like being able to tell whether they're looking at your face or your...yeah, well you know what I'm talking about.  
  
But it was when Mia became friends with Jenna that these 'little things' became far obvious. The female Mars adept prided herself on being an expert on men, and all their workings, though she had admitted that she couldn't for the life of her figure Garet...but that's another story for another time.  
  
And it appeared that Mia's time in Vale had run out.  
  
Picking up her staff, she slung one bag over her shoulder and held the other one tight in her left hand.  
  
"Oh, Mia dear, you're leaving so soon?" Dora stuck her head in the door and smiled at her. "I thought you were going to stay a little bit longer at least."  
  
"I wish I could, ma'am. But the people of Imil need me."  
  
"You're such a sweet girl. But I thought perhaps you were going to stay here for good, with Isaac."  
  
Mia smiled faintly. "Me and Isaac are just friends. I'm sure he's told you this before."  
  
"Yes well, I thought maybe he'd see sense in time." Dora shook her head disapprovingly, before departing.  
  
Mia followed her to the door and watched the older woman walk down the stairs. She knew what Isaac's mother had been hinting at. But unfortunately, it didn't look like it was going to happen.  
  
And so, with a heavy heart, Mia picked up her bag once more and walked down the stairs for what looked like the last time.  
  
'You've had your chance, Isaac."  
  
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #  
  
ME: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sunday's a two-parter! Aren't I just evil?!  
  
CHIBI GARET: Ooh, they're gonna murder you for this one, Dragon.  
  
ME: Yeah well, it looked like this chapter was going to be too long, so I've split it. (Hides from pitchfork-wielding reviews.) Please don't hurt me! I'll get up the last bit as soon as I can, I swear! Waaaaah! (Runs like Hell.)  
  
CHIBI JENNA: Review! 


	9. Sunday pt 2: Is this the end?

ME: (Looking smug and thinking evil thoughts inside her heavily fortified castle.) Hah, they can't get me if I'm in here!  
  
Outside, there is an angry rabble of reviewers, all carrying pitchforks and other implements of pain. Chibi Garet is locked in a cage nearby, and is forced to play Monopoly with Storm Demon 'till the mere mention of cute little Scottie dogs and rich men with top hats and silver, old-fashioned cars is enough to send him into hysterics.  
  
CHIBI JENNA: (Looking out of the window.) Oh, my poor Garet!  
  
ME: Pipe down, I'm busy being evil over here! (Continues to think evil thoughts.)  
  
CHIBI JENNA: (Cries loudly and annoyingly.) Help him!  
  
ME: Hmm...nah. (Whistles cheerfully whilst thinking evil thoughts.)  
  
DISCLAIMER: NO, I DON'T OWN GOLDEN SUN. I DO HOWEVER OWN THIS LOVELY LAPTOP I'M TYPING ON...NO, ACTUALLY I DON'T EVEN OWN THIS, IT BELONGS TO MY COUSIN. I'M A HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE LIAR.  
  
ME: Now, the final chapter at last!  
  
CHIBI JENNA: Maybe then that nasty Storm Demon person will give me my Chibi Garet back!  
  
ME: Technically he belongs to me, y'know. You do too, and so does Chibi Chao.  
  
CHIBI JENNA: (Starts crying again.)  
  
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #  
  
When Isaac eventually emerged from under his bed, eyes red and tired looking, it was well into the afternoon, and Jenna, Ivan, Garet (Nursing a huge hangover.) and Sheba were all sat in his kitchen playing poker.  
  
"Well, if it isn't mister chicken." Garet muttered, an ice pack firmly held on forehead, as he watched Isaac trudge down the stairs like a man going to the gallows. "Mars, my head hurts..."  
  
"And it serves you right, too." Jenna snapped, shuffling the cards. "Drinking at that time of day, you should be ashamed!"  
  
"No Jenna, I'll just go ahead and let you be ashamed for the both of us, my head hurts far too much for that." He groaned.  
  
Isaac looked at his best friend curiously. "What happened to you?"  
  
"Felix challenged me to a drinking competition."  
  
"I take it you lost?"  
  
"Hell no, I beat Felix into the ground! You should see the state of him."  
  
"He bad?"  
  
"Oh-ho, very bad! Actually now that I think about it, you don't want to see the condition he's in!"  
  
Isaac grinned, quite liking the idea of Felix in pain, but then it disappeared quickly, to be replaced once again by the condemned-man look that was so in style with him now. "But anyway, where's Mia? I've finally decided to just go for it, and tell her everything."  
  
"Well, that's just super, Isaac. But I'm afraid you're too late."  
  
"W-What?!"  
  
Sheba nodded apologetically. "I'm sorry, Isaac, but Mia left for Imil about three hours ago."  
  
Isaac went all pale and funny-coloured again, and crumpled to the floor in a ball, another new habit of his. "I'm too late...again...my life is over ...again...damn..."  
  
"Isaac, get the Hell off of that floor right now!" Garet stood up quickly, the ice pack falling off his spiky bonce, and hitting the floor with a wet 'thump'. "I've had just about enough of all your pathetic whining. Now, either you go after Mia right now, catch up with her and tell her everything, and I mean absolutely everything, or I am going to take this deck of cards and shove them so far up you that your tongue will have a permanent imprint of the ace of Spades on the underside!" He took the deck of cards off of Jenna and held up the aforementioned ace, just to emphasise his point.  
  
Isaac was on his feet quickly. Afterall, a hung over Garet was definitely not a man to mess around with. "I'm up, but it's still too late. I've messed up big time."  
  
Garet's hangover-hardened expression softened. "Listen Isaac, I read a book once about a guy who thought it was too late. But he never gave up, and he travelled across the entire country just to find that one girl of his dreams. He found her too, and they both lived happily ever after."  
  
"Wow, what book was that?"  
  
The Mars adept coughed awkwardly. "Cinderella."  
  
Isaac collapsed to the floor again, but this time with laughter. "Wahahahahahahaha! You read Cinderella?!"  
  
"I found it to be both thought-provoking and inspiring, thank you very much!"  
  
"Wahahahahaha, w-what age were you, five?!"  
  
"Six actually." Garet scowled. "But that's not important! What's important is you getting off your arse and going after Mia!"  
  
Isaac got to his feet, wiping tears of laughter away from his eyes. "You're right, Garet. I've got to go now, before it really is too late." He smiled, and then did something no one expected him to do. He gave Garet a hug. "Thanks for the advice, man."  
  
Garet pried him off lightly, looking extremely embarrassed. "Yeah, yeah, well...you'd better get going, before you ruin my reputation completely."  
  
"Yeah." The Venus adept picked up his sword and scabbard from where they were lying by the kitchen door. "I'll see you guys later."  
  
"Good luck, Isaac. I mean let's face it, you're gonna need it!" Garet watched his best friend leave, and then turned his attention back to the long-forgotten poker game. "Right, where were we?" He looked around the table at the other's stunned faces. "What?"  
  
"Cinderella?" Ivan bit his fist to stop himself from laughing. "And I didn't even know you could read!"  
  
"Tell me, do you turn into a pumpkin after midnight?" Sheba asked, grinning.  
  
Jenna just couldn't help herself. "Or maybe you'd rather be the fairy Godmother!" The little table erupted in gales of laughter.  
  
"Oh, bugger off the lot of you!"  
  
Meanwhile, back to our favourite cowardly Venus adept:  
  
Isaac ran like a monkey being chased by a lawnmower. Erm, that is to say, he ran fast. Very, very fast. So fast that he was now out of Vale and heading down the dirt road that led to Vault.  
  
And just to add to his luck, it started to rain heavily.  
  
'Great, just great!' He thought furiously, realising that he'd conveniently left his waterproof tunic at home, and was now only wearing a thin, cotton shirt and heavy leather trousers. Which were not very good items of clothing for going running in the rain.  
  
*SPLASH!*  
  
Suddenly, he found himself waist-deep in a huge, brown puddle.  
  
"Ah, for the love of...!" He yelled, looking up at the grey, gloomy sky. "You're really testing my patience today, Venus!"  
  
When he did eventually manage to pull himself out of the muddy puddle (The sides were slippery and he kept falling back in.), Isaac was absolutely soaking. His trousers were stuck fast to his skin, but he supposed that was the price to pay for wearing leather on a day like this, and that thin, cotton shirt was now so wet that it had become see-through and was now about as waterproof as a tissue.  
  
But still, what was he gonna do about it now? And so, after attempting to wipe the water from his face, he started to run again.  
  
Straight through Vault, and earning more than a few strange and fearful looks from the villagers there, he continued his journey though the bucketing rain. Yes, it was still bloody raining, and now Isaac could barely even see the road in front of his face.  
  
"Need a little help, Isaac?" A squeaky little voice to his right asked, just about making him jump out of his skin.  
  
"G-Granite?" He wheezed, slowing down and clutching his sides in pain. "What in the name of Venus do you want now?"  
  
"Hmph, some welcome that." The little Djinn was still wearing her little angel getup. "And to think I came here to do you a service!"  
  
"Well, in case you didn't notice Granite, I'm kinda in a hurry here."  
  
"Shut up and listen, Isaac! I'm not here to give you a lecture about what you did to Ivan, even though I really should..."  
  
"Get to the point!"  
  
"Oh right, well erm...oh, dammit." Granite frowned. "See what you did now? I've forgotten my good advice that I was going to give to you!"  
  
Isaac just about fell over. "You...forgot it? I've been standing here in the pouring rain talking to you for about five minutes and you've forgotten what you were going to say?! Argh, I can't believe it, Flint was right! You really are a complete and utter airhead!"  
  
"Flint said what?!" The little white tunic, harp and halo disappeared with a 'pop', only to be replaced by horns and a pitchfork. "Oh, I'm gonna kill him!" And then the little Venus Djinn disappeared too, leaving an utterly confused Isaac standing alone in the rain.  
  
"Alright, now I know I've lost my marbles." He muttered, once again trying to wipe the water off of his face, then realising that his hand was just as wet and it did absolutely no good whatsoever. "Oh, you're pushing it now!" He glared up at the murky sky again.  
  
Then thunder rumbled somewhere nearby, and there was a flash of lighting over his head.  
  
"Uh oh."  
  
Maybe threatening the Gods wasn't such a smart idea on his part.  
  
And so, once again, Isaac began to run.  
  
The thin, cotton shirt was now so wet that it the material seemed to be disintegrating, so (With much difficulty.) he peeled it off and threw it away, an action that his mother would surely would have killed him for. But not because now he was surely going to "catch his death", as she would put it, but because it was a terrible waste of a perfectly good shirt.  
  
Sometimes Isaac felt his mother needed to get her priorities straight.  
  
Back in Vale:  
  
"So, where do you think Isaac is right now?" Sheba asked, as she sat down on the comfy chair situated in Isaac's living room.  
  
Jenna shrugged. "No idea."  
  
"I think he's approaching Bilibin right now."  
  
"Bilibin?! Garet, you're crazy, there's no way he's gotten that far in this weather!" Ivan gestured to the window, were the hammering rain and howling winds were rattling the windowpanes violently. "He's probably stuck in Vault."  
  
"Nah, don't underestimate the sheer determination of a man in love. He won't give up 'till Mia's back in Vale." Garet leaned back on the settee, and Jenna put her head on his lap and put her legs out so that the pair of them took up the whole chair, leaving Ivan to sit on the floor.  
  
"What is with you today?" The Jupiter adept grumbled, as he sat on the hard, wooden floor. "You've gone all sappy, Garet. It must be the end of the world or something!"  
  
"Hey, I can be sensitive too, y'know."  
  
"Yeah, sure."  
  
"I can!"  
  
"He can." Jenna agreed. "Like this once time, when we were all in Kalay..."  
  
"Uhh, Jenna." Garet said quickly, cutting her off. "From what I remember, that story isn't suitable for children."  
  
"Okay, now we just don't want to know." Sheba said, shaking her head. "And anyway, what do you mean by not suitable for children? I'm almost seventeen!"  
  
Jenna smirked. "Yeah, but me and Garet are almost twenty, and he still can't say weevil without giggling like a little girl. Even when he's sober!"  
  
"Hee hee hee, weevil." Garet did indeed giggle like a little girl. "It's just a really funny word!"  
  
"Yes Garet, of course it is."  
  
Meanwhile, back to Isaac, wherever he is:  
  
Isaac lay face down by the roadside. The rain was still absolutely chucking down, and he had eventually succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed, hence his current situation.  
  
To say it wasn't fun was the understatement of the year.  
  
He was absolutely covered in mud, from his usually blonde hair (Which was now a dirty brown.), to his boots, which were now so wet he didn't think he'd ever be able to wear them again for fear of sinking. Oh, and he was still bare-chested.  
  
Boy, his mother would have a fit if she saw the state of those trousers. But then we get back to her needing to prioritise. After all, what's more important, your only son's health, or the state of his clothes?  
  
Hmm, you'd think that'd be an easy question for any mother to answer, wouldn't you?  
  
Turning his head slightly, Isaac could just make out the sound of footsteps nearby. It was probably muggers or something, knowing his current luck. Well, wouldn't that just make his day complete?  
  
"Isaac?"  
  
He looked up, and just before he passed out, could have sworn he saw an angel standing in the rain.  
  
Later:  
  
When Isaac came to, the first thing he noticed was his blinding headache. Then, he noticed that he was no longer lying drenched in a puddle by some road leading to Venus-knows-where.  
  
And lastly, and no one's saying Isaac isn't quick, he realised that he wasn't even outside at all. Oh no, far from it. In fact, it looked like he was back in his bed in Vale...  
  
"Isaac, you're awake!" The door swung open, and in walked the other adepts, looking worried. Well, except for Garet.  
  
"It's about time you regained consciousness, Isaac! Anyone could be forgiven for thinking you've gotten weak in your old age."  
  
"Garet!" Jenna smacked her fiancé upside the head. "Don't be so harsh, Isaac's still sick!"  
  
"It's alright, Jenna. I don't mind." Isaac assured his friend with a smile. "And anyway, I feel just fine. But what happened?"  
  
"You fainted on the road somewhere just past Vault. Mia found you and brought you back to Vale." Ivan said.  
  
"What? Mia's here?!"  
  
"Yeah, she's downstairs with your mother. I tell you, you've gotten her into a right state." The male Jupiter adept shook his head. "She was really worried that you'd die of pneumonia or something, you know she can't heal things like that."  
  
Isaac immediately felt incredibly guilty. "Do you think I should go talk to her?"  
  
"No actually, I think you should just continue to be stupid and let her leave again, still worried for your safety." Jenna rolled her eyes. "Honestly, men are so stupid sometimes!"  
  
"Even me?"  
  
"Especially you, Garet."  
  
"Y'know, you women aren't perfect either!" The big adept snapped, crossing his arms over his chest in what he hoped was a defiant manner. "If I tried to count all the faults of the female species I'd..." He trailed off, when he saw the looks Jenna and Sheba were giving him. "Actually, now I feel it best that I retract my previous statement."  
  
"Just as well, or when we get married you'll be sleeping on the floor!"  
  
"Not if it's my bed, 'cos I refuse to move in with you and your brother!"  
  
"Hey, we can just kick Felix out."  
  
"That's actually not such a bad idea..."  
  
"Hey, can we focus on my problems here, please?!" Isaac snapped, from where he lying in his bed. "Seriously guys, what am I going to do?"  
  
"Well, I think carting your lazy arse out of that bed would be a start." Ivan said.  
  
"Yep, then going downstairs and having a talk with Mia." Sheba agreed.  
  
"In which you completely spill your guts." Jenna added.  
  
"And convince her that she should stay in Vale with you." Garet finished. "Hey, that was pretty cool. Let's all talk like that again."  
  
"Shut up, Garet."  
  
Isaac groaned and looked up at the ceiling. "You're just taking the piss now, Venus." He shrugged the covers off and got up.  
  
"Whoa, get some trousers on, Isaac. I do not recommend having a serious talk with Mia in your underwear."  
  
The Venus adept looked down and blushed. "Erm, maybe I should get dressed." He went into his wardrobe and pulled on a pair of his traditional brown trousers and blue tunic. "That's more like it."  
  
"Yeah well, get going, man." Garet pushed him out of the door, everyone else followed. "We'll just be eavesdropping in your living room...I mean, waiting patiently for you up here." He coughed nervously. "What?"  
  
"Don't you dare, Garet." Isaac warned. "I want this to be totally private and uninterrupted. If you screw this up for me I'll kill you!"  
  
"Don't worry, I'm sure you're perfectly capable of screwing things up all by yourself."  
  
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."  
  
"What are friends for, eh?"  
  
Isaac grinned. "What indeed?" He took to the stairs, casting one last look at his friends as he went.  
  
"Good luck, Isaac." Jenna said, smiling.  
  
"Yeah, go get 'em, buddy!"  
  
"I've got a box of tissues right here just in case you get rejected."  
  
"Ivan!" Three voices yelled in unison, and Ivan found himself being dragged away by his fellow adepts.  
  
"I was only joking!"  
  
Isaac chuckled a little at the young Jupiter adept's attempts to fight off the others, and then started his long walk down the stairs. Each step he took felt like an eternity. And the weird feeling he got in his stomach whenever he was with Mia or even just thinking about Mia seemed to be even more turbulent than usual.  
  
He also got that funny feeling whenever he ate sushi, but for completely different reasons.  
  
"Mia?"  
  
The kitchen was quiet, too quiet for his liking. Usually his mother would be bustling around making porridge or sushi or something Isaac found equally disgusting.  
  
But then, he'd probably never been in his kitchen this late before.  
  
"Mia?" He called again. No reply. In fact, it didn't look like anyone was in here at all.  
  
Sniffle.  
  
Uhh, hold on a minute...that wasn't the sort of noise you'd expect to find in your kitchen late at night.  
  
"Hello? Mia, are you in here?"  
  
"Isaac?" Came a small voice from...oh no, not that...anything but that. Mia was supposed to be the sane one! And Garet's insanity couldn't possibly be contagious, could it?  
  
Aqua-blue eyes stared up at him from underneath the offending piece of furniture, sparkling with tears.  
  
Yup, you've guessed it, she was under the table.  
  
There was the guilt again. And the weird love/sushi feeling.  
  
"Are you alright?" He got down onto his knees (No hentai thoughts here, please.) so that they were eye-to-eye.  
  
"Yeah, just peachy." She muttered dryly, avoiding his gaze. "But you're supposed to be in bed, Isaac. I don't want you up and about before you're ready."  
  
"I'm fine." He was suddenly overcome by a huge coughing fit. "R-Really, there's nothing to worry about here. But what about you?"  
  
"I told you, just peachy. Well, apart from the fact that one of my best friends was running about in the rain like a moron and almost died from the cold, that is."  
  
Ooh, that was a sore one. Isaac winced, and then decided that apologising seemed to be the best way to go right now. "If it helps, I'm sorry you couldn't go back to Imil today." He hoped he sounded sincere.  
  
"Oh Isaac, I don't care about that!" She threw herself onto his shoulder and started sobbing again. "You could have died!" She continued to cry, soaking his shirt for the second time that day. On the other hand, her body seemed to fit in quite nicely beside his...  
  
Isaac wondered briefly if his face looked as hot as it felt.  
  
"Ssh, don't cry. I'm fine, see?" He flashed her his best 'Hey, cheer up! At least you're not dead.' smile. "In fact, I think my own Mother was more worried about my clothes."  
  
"Well, she was pretty upset when she saw the state of those trousers." Mia sniffled, and then giggled slightly. "But if you ask me, wet leather looks pretty good on you."  
  
Isaac felt a nosebleed coming on. "Well..." He spluttered. "I didn't mean for them to get quite that wet. I just...I just...erm, why are you looking at me like that?"  
  
She was staring at him, an odd expression on her face. Now they were so close that all it would take was for either one of them to move forward slightly and...  
  
Mia closed the gap between their mouths and kissed him.  
  
Hello!  
  
The sensation of her lips against his was incredible. Isaac felt all his troubles melt away as he was absorbed in the kiss. It was just...indescribable. No words in his mind could document what was possibly the greatest moment of his life.  
  
Eventually though, for fear of his lungs collapsing, he pulled away and stared at her, eyes wide. She just stared back, smiling slightly, her face flushed.  
  
Then it suddenly seemed appropriate for him to say something. But it had to be cool, it had to be smooth, it had to make her want to...  
  
"I love you." He blurted out.  
  
Oh, very smooth indeed, Mister Isaac. I'm sure St Valentine just rolled over in his grave...  
  
"I love you too." She said it so quiet he barely heard it, but there it was none the less. She said she loved him!  
  
It took him a while to process this information. Then he said, "You do? Really?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
A slow grin spread across his face, and he resisted the urge to run outside and shout "Up yours, Venus!" at the top of his lungs, and instead settled for, "Well then...would you mind awfully if I kissed you again?"  
  
"Not at all." So he leaned in again, and...  
  
"Well, what do we have here?" Dora's amused voice cut through the romantic tension in the room like a knife.  
  
Instantly, Isaac and Mia were on their feet, both looking horribly embarrassed. Standing in the doorway to the kitchen was his mother, and the rest of the adepts.  
  
Isaac noticed the particular gleam of evil in Garet's eyes and instantly knew he was never going to hear the end of this.  
  
"It's not what it looks like, I swear!"  
  
"Well I don't know what it was then." The Mars adept tried to sound innocent and unassuming. "Because from where I was standing it looked like you guys were getting pretty h..."  
  
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence, Garet! It wasn't like that and you know it!"  
  
"Oh, of course it wasn't. You guys were just brushing up on your mouth-to- mouth resuscitation, right?"  
  
"Shut up before I hurt you, Garet!" Isaac tried to go over there and do some damage to his best friend's thick skull, but his mother stepped in the way.  
  
"Now, come on Isaac. I don't mind you and 'girlfriend'," She pronounced the word carefully, shooting Mia an amused glance. "sharing the occasional moment together. But just try to keep it out from under my table, will you?"  
  
Well, if Isaac wasn't embarrassed before, he was mortified now. "Yes, Mum."  
  
"There's a good boy." Dora turned and made to leave the kitchen. But just before she did, stopped and said, "And be careful to always use protection, I'm still way too young to be a grandmother y'know."  
  
All the adepts, minus Isaac and Mia obviously, burst into howls of laughter at this last comment.  
  
"Aw, come on guys, it wasn't that funny!" Mia said, scowling.  
  
"Yeah, knock it off!"  
  
"Oh alright, alright." Garet straightened himself up, and then promptly started laughing again. "I-I'm sorry, Isaac, but it really is that funny!"  
  
"Your mother's a real comedian!" Ivan said. Or spluttered, as he seemed to be choking on his own amusement.  
  
Garet thumped him hard on the back several times. "Better?"  
  
"I think you broke my spine..."  
  
"Drama queen."  
  
"Oaf."  
  
"Wuss."  
  
"Moron."  
  
"Whiney little virg..."  
  
"Alright guys, you can all go away now!" Isaac said, cutting in quickly. "Show's over and all that."  
  
"Spoil sport." Garet grumbled, as he and the others all filed out of the kitchen. Ivan and Sheba went upstairs to their respective guest bedrooms, and Garet and Jenna went out the front door.  
  
"See you tomorrow, lover boy!"  
  
"Shut it, Garet!" Isaac slammed the door. Mia came up behind him and put her arms around his waist.  
  
"Well, now that they're gone, you can help me with my bags."  
  
"Your bags?" An edge of worry crept into Isaac's voice.  
  
She grinned. "Yeah. After all, it'll take me ages to unpack all my stuff by myself."  
  
"Unpack...so you're staying then?!"  
  
"Of course."  
  
The love/sushi feeling was back with a vengeance, but this time it was felt better, seeing as it wasn't accompanied by guilt, or a nasty virus caused by eating seafood.  
  
Isaac smiled widely and kissed her once more quickly. "Excuse me one moment." He said, moving out of her grasp and opening the front door.  
  
"Isaac, what are you...?"  
  
But he was already outside. And standing at the top of his garden, in the middle of the night, in the midst of the pouring rain, he looked up at the black, night sky, took a deep breath, and yelled at the top of his lungs...  
...wait for it...  
"Up yours, Venus!"  
  
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #  
  
ME: (Laughs.) I just couldn't resist it!  
  
CHIBI CHAO: (Shaking his head.) When it comes to endings, Dragon Empress, yours are the worst!  
  
ME: I know. (Coughs.) But anyway, that's it! It's over! I'm finally free! (Dances.) I'm finally free!  
  
CHIBI CHAO: Until you write the sequel.  
  
ME: If there's even going to be a sequel. I might just leave it here.  
  
CHIBI JENNA: But what about big Jenna and big Garet's wedding? And all the unresolved issues between Ivan and Sheba?  
  
ME: Alright, how's this? I'll do a sequel if at least three people ask me for one. Sound fair?  
  
CHIBI JENNA: Yeah, I'll agree to that.  
  
CHIBI CHAO: Me too.  
  
ME: Now, onto more important matters. (Clears throat.) Cyber cookies go to the following people:  
  
Gohan777, Evil Yuki!, Mai (Even though her review was technically a flame.), Storm Demon, Lumino, Akachi, VampireLord (His wasn't exactly supportive either.), Incrediblecuznz, Jupiter girl, Lord Cynic, Triad Orion, Midnight C, Anime angel515, Kalico, JP, Mikaa, Eggwhisk (My insane cousin.), Nuva, Kendoworrior, Ice Angel, Isaac says Booga, Saiyagal, GS masta, Claramars, Zidanet, Mare Serenitatis, Dragon Scales, Red Rum, two anonymous and an anon.  
  
ME: Thank you all for taking the time to review this crime against writing I call a fanfic. Oh, and Triad Orion, you got two cookies, but one is laced with cyanide. (Grins evilly.) You'll never guess which...  
  
CHIBI JENNA: And I want my Garet back now, Storm Demon, or else!  
  
ME: (Nods.) Better do as she says, she's an absolute nutter when it comes to people pinching 'her' Chibi Garet  
  
CHIBI JENNA: (With fire in her hands.) Damn right I am!  
  
ME: Told you. (Takes a step away.) I'm considering doing a sequel to this about Garet and Jenna's wedding. If you guys want a sequel, say so in your reviews.  
  
Yeah, you all still have to review this chapter! (Whips out a shotgun.) Or else!  
  
^_^ 


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